THIS year marks the 40th anniversary of the cooperation between South Korea and Malaysia under the Look East Policy (LEP).
South Korea and Malaysia will commemorate this milestone in bilateral relations throughout the year, starting with the opening ceremony at the International Trade and Industry Ministry in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The LEP 40 opening reception in Seoul will be held tomorrow on the occasion of Malaysia's trade and investment mission to South Korea.
When the LEP was launched in 1983, cooperation focused on human capital development by sending students and trainees.
From 2014, as the economies of both countries grew and trade and investment expanded, the LEP evolved to focus more on industrial cooperation.
Over the past 40 years, more than 5,000 Malaysians, including over 1,700 government officials, have received government-sponsored education or training in South Korea.
And people-to-people exchanges between our two countries have increased from about 25,000 annually in the early 1980s to more than one million in 2019.
Our bilateral economic cooperation thrived even during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our trade volume continued to grow in the past two years, recording an all-time high of more than US$26 billion in 2022.
South Korea is Malaysia's eighth-largest trading partner and seventh-largest foreign investor, while Malaysia is South Korea's third-largest trading partner and fourth-largest investment destination among Asean countries.
More than 500 South Korean companies — including Samsung, SK, Lotte, Posco, Hanwha, and CJ — are investing in Malaysia.
Recent foreign direct investments by South Korean companies are particularly significant as they focus more on ESG (environmental, social and governance) and advanced, high-value-added industries that the Malaysian government is promoting.
South Korea and Malaysia see eye to eye on the way forward.
In this rapidly changing world with rising geopolitical tensions, our countries have shared interests as we are export-oriented open economies, which means that there is great potential for mutually beneficial cooperation.
Both countries are also alike in emphasising the need to play a more active role on the international stage, as seen in the speeches by Prime Minister Da-tuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and President Yoon Suk Yeol since they took office last year.
At the South Korea-Asean Summit in November last year, Yoon introduced South Korea's Indo-Pacific Strategy and presented the South Korea-Asean Solidarity Initiative, a tailor-made policy initiative for the Asean region, which also encompasses security cooperation.
Last month, Korea Aerospace Industries signed a deal with Malaysia's Defence Ministry to supply 18 FA-50s fighter jets for the Royal Malaysian Air Force's light combat aircraft project.
This reflects a strong partnership based on genuine trust built between our two countries.
The time is ripe for elevating our bilateral relations to a strategic partnership and establishing a new cooperation framework for the next 40 years.
This year, the two countries are preparing several plans to explore cooperation in various economic sectors, revitalise high-level exchanges, and deepen understanding between the two peoples.
One of the ways we could fully realise the potential for economic cooperation is through maximising trade and investment opportunities between our two countries.
A free trade agreement (FTA) between Korea and Malaysia will provide a platform for institutionalised economic cooperation.
The FTA will complement the multilateral agreements, such as the South Korea-Asean FTA and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and allow Malaysia to explore more cooperation opportunities with South Korea that are customised to its economic situation and needs.
Therefore, the two sides should promptly resume the FTA negotiations that began in 2019 but were subsequently suspended.
Increased trade and investment will contribute to Malay-sia's economic growth, and help it achieve high-income nation status.
Along with the FTA negotiations, the two countries could also discuss cooperation in new areas of common interest, such as digital economy, energy transition, food security and supply chains.
I hope that Kuala Lumpur's trade and investment mission to South Korea this week will be a huge success and initiate renewed cooperation between the two countries, including resumption of the FTA negotiations.
The South Korean embassy in Malaysia is committed to making 2023 a year in which South Korea and Malaysia together take a great leap forward.
It's time to Look East Again towards another 40 years of friendship, cooperation and mutual prosperity.
The writer is South Korean ambassador to Malaysia