KUALA LUMPUR: British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will travel to Malaysia tomorrow as part of a series of high-level meetings to build stronger ties with Southeast Asia and to promote the UK as a dynamic nation.
Raab's arrival in Malaysia will be part of his first Asia Pacific trip this year where he will highlight new and exciting opportunities in trade and investment with Malaysia as an independent and sovereign UK.
Apart from holding talks with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, he is also scheduled to have discussions with Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah and Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin to set UK's vision for its future relationship with Malaysia in trade, science and innovation, climate change and education.
In a statement, Raab said Global Britain is open for business and there are huge trading opportunities with Malaysia as well as Singapore.
"They are two linchpin partners in Southeast Asia and we share their interests in promoting security, stability and the international rule of law. The region is also crucial to tackling climate change. So we are looking forward to taking our relations to the next level," he said.
Underlining the UK’s position as a world leader in tackling climate change, promoting sustainability and preserving the environment, Raab will make clear their support for Malaysian efforts to clean up the oceans by reducing plastic use and marine debris and pledge to work together to stop illegal shipments of plastic waste from UK.
British High Commissioner to Malaysia Charles Hay said he was delighted that Malaysia was part of Raab's Asia Pacific tour.
He said it is Raab's first official overseas visit since the UK's departure from the European Union.
"The visit reflects the importance of the UK's modern and close relationship with Malaysia. There is so much we can achieve together in trade, education, science and technology as well as in tackling climate change. We want to do more with Malaysia."
The UK and Malaysia share the common goal in tackling climate change and plastic waste where both countries will have the unique opportunity to work together to address the global problems ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26), which the UK will co-host with Italy this year (2020).
Bilateral trade between the UK and Malaysia has increased 10 per cent to £5 billion while UK and Malaysia's warm relationship was evident when the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah visited the UK and met Queen Elizabeth II last December.
Dr Mahathir also made working visits to the UK twice in 2019.
There are 19,000 Malaysian students currently studying in the UK and another 80,000 individuals studying for a UK qualification in Malaysia.
There are an estimated 18,500 British nationals living in Malaysia and approximately 360,000 British tourists visited Malaysia in 2018.