Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation

BREXIT: UK/MALAYSIA – NEW OPPORTUNITY Speech by H.E. Vicki Treadell, British High Commissioner to Malaysia Tuesday 23 August 2016 in Kuala Lumpur

 

What a difference two months make.

On 23 June 2016, the British people exercised their democratic right and voted in a historic EU Referendum – IN or OUT of the EU.

The result was a shock, global markets reacted, the value of sterling fell.

But two months later things have settled down. The world has not ended and we are getting on with the job of dealing with our post-Brexit reality.

This is an opportunity for us to broaden and deepen our trade and investment relationship with Malaysia.

We do not underestimate the challenge ahead. But we will seize it, and we will make the best we can of this new reality.

So I want to explain where we stand and what we are doing about it.

First, Brexit means Brexit.

Second, we will make a success of it.

Third, Britain remains Britain.

Britain is a great country, thriving and prospering on the world stage.

Indeed we have just proved how globally competitive we are achieving second place in the medals table at the Rio Olympics.

No one should ever under-estimate us nor write us off. Nor doubt our resolve.

But, before I go into the detail of how we face our agenda ahead, I would like to remind you about who and what we are as a nation.

Britain remains a permanent member of the UN Security Council, NATO, the G7, the G20 and the Commonwealth.

Our voice is prominent on the world stage.

Britain is open for business, committed to peace and security, and a leading supporter of the international rules-based system.

Our commitment to our extensive security cooperation with international partners remains steadfast.

We are the only major country which will simultaneously meet the NATO target of spending 2% of our GDP on defence and the UN target of spending 0.7% of our GNI on development.

While our future relationship with the EU is still to be determined, we are not leaving Europe.

We are Europeans.

Our new Department for the Exit of Europe will negotiate what our new relationship with the EU will be.

We will want the strongest possible economic links with our European neighbours, but we also want them with our close friends in North America, the Commonwealth and other important partners around the world.

Indeed, Commonwealth Trade Ministers will meet in London early 2017 and we will want to work with them to see how we can further develop intra-Commonwealth trade and investment flows.

So we are very much on the front foot. Our ambition is clear.

We have our marching orders under Theresa May's new Government.

We will be: more active, ï‚· more outward facing, ï‚· more energetic on the world stage than ever before.

We hold fast to a vision of a Britain that is respected abroad, tolerant at home, and here, let me be clear, Britain is not a racist country. It is an open, welcoming country.

I will not excuse the small minority who have behaved badly after the EU Referendum nor pretend that some ugly racism was seen. But our laws are clear, and from Prime Minister Theresa May down, we have said that there is no place for such attitudes in modern Britain.

We have laws against inciting racial or religious hatred and we will use them against those that do.

The Britain that I know is one that saw an Ipoh girl like me migrate to Britain and return to Malaysia, the country of my birth, to represent Britain as High Commissioner.

So our vision is one of a Britain engaged in the world and working with our international partners to advance prosperity and security for our people for generations to come.

The UK will continue to promote universal human rights as an integral part of building prosperity and stability around the world. Economic success is dependent on social capital and development.

Education – we recognise is a fundamental pillar to the endeavour.

And, education is a key pillar of our bilateral relationship with Malaysia. With five British university branch campuses here and dozens of British international schools, we are helping Malaysia to realise its ambition of becoming an education destination in Asia.

We have a new Education Is GREAT campaign celebrating our educational ties and working with Malaysia we want to take our joint offer pan-ASEAN over the next three to four years.

We will furthermore work through multilateral organisations, as well as bilaterally and with all like-minded partners to champion: human rights, ï‚· democracy, and ï‚· the rule of law, including the separation of powers and the need for robust institutions fundamental for any country's true potential to be realised.

And, this is an important point – we have not yet left the EU. The British people have voted to leave and our Government are now seized on delivering that out. But, for now, we remain a member of the EU until we leave.

Let's be clear about the process ahead.

First we must invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. We then have a two year timetable in which to negotiate the terms of our new relationship with the EU.

Prime Minister Theresa May has made clear she will not invoke Article 50 till we are ready and that it will not be this year. If it is next year, then we are looking to a 2020 exit.

Before then we will continue to play a full and active role in the EU including supporting ongoing EU FTA negotiations with Malaysia and ASEAN.

Why? Because Britain believes in free trade and will both advocate it and champion it whilst we look to a future where, outside the EU, we will negotiate our own FTAs.

And we will start from a position of strength. We are working to ensure our economic fundamentals stay strong and become stronger still.

So let's reflect on our track record and the foundations on which we will build.

Since 2010, as many as 300,000 new jobs have been created by companies that have chosen to locate in the UK.

Last year saw Britain achieve a record share of the EU's foreign direct investment.

Why should a country that represents only 13% of the EU's population succeed in getting 21% of the total investment?

The answer lies in strong underlying economic fundamentals.

In Britain, we have seen numbers in employment rise to an all-time high and unemployment fall to an 11-year low of below 5%.

These are the result of levels of growth that, even post Brexit, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects to be the highest in the EU.

We have a system of contractual law that gives investors the highest possible levels of confidence, overseen by an internationally respected and totally independent judiciary.

We have a skilled workforce and low levels of industrial disruption.

People rightly talk about London as an international financial and cultural powerhouse but how many people know that the north-east of England, as a region, now exports more cars than the whole of Italy?

And these are Nissan cars, made in the UK, because we have been open to foreign direct investment. Look at Jaguar Land Rover – iconic British brands - now owned by India's Tata Motors.

We embraced foreign ownership but these remain British brands, with production up, driven by British design and innovation. We are exporting more cars to the world than we have ever done before because we were, and remain, open for business.

We have a low tax economy with some of the lowest business taxes in Europe and have one of the least regulated economies.

Our corporate tax rates are among the lowest in the G20 and are set to get even lower.

We have an internationally respected research base and some of the best universities in the world.

We are home to 18 of the world's top 100 universities, and 4 of the top 10.

In areas such as financial services we have an unrivalled professional class able to give support.

We have the natural advantage of speaking English – the international language of business, of science, of diplomacy, even the official language of ASEAN.

We are in the perfect time zone for global trade – we can conclude business with China in the morning and resume business with the US in the afternoon.

None of these elements is dependent on our membership of the EU.

And let's not forget the quality of life issues that make living in the UK so attractive to those outside.

But what is important to realise is that investment is a two-way street.

We welcome foreign direct investment for the jobs it creates and the societies it transforms, but we must not forget that the UK is a significant global investor in its own right.

The top 20-24 UK companies in Malaysia employ about 80,000 people with total investment value just under RM90 billion. We want to build on this and we will.

UK investors are delivering new industries and helping to develop new sectors of business in Malaysia. Look at Dyson – 1,000 engineers, BAE Systems – 400 graduates working in Applied Intelligence. And think of the supply jobs created by these and more.

The kind of jobs that the younger generation Malaysians aspire to do – jobs driven by innovation and creativity.

Without open minds, questioning minds, the ability to express yourself and challenge perceived wisdom, there can be no creativity or innovation to drive the economy if minds are closed and restricted.

And, as I said earlier, we will continue to support free trade – we will play our part to encourage EU FTAs.

We will continue to support the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and encourage an ever more liberal approach to the service sector, including financial services.

As we enter a new era, however, we need to take account of the changing patterns of trade across the globe.

We are moving away from an era when multilateral agreements dominated the landscape to one where bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) and plurilateral agreements between small numbers of countries are becoming more common.

In the last 20 years, the number of free trade agreements in place has increased more than four-fold.

As we leave the European Union, the United Kingdom will want to play a full part in global trade liberalisation utilising all the tools and arrangements available.

Flexibility and agility will be the key to economic success in the 21st-century.

Leaving the EU gives us back control of our trade policy to set our own terms with the rest of the world. We are a Global Britain.

We will have the opportunity to make our tax systems even more competitive, take an axe to red tape that can hinder businesses, and shape a bright future for the UK as a beacon for open trade.

And in due course, we will set out a very ambitious programme of free trade areas (FTAs) with some of the most important and growing economies.

Clearly Malaysia takes its place in any prioritisation of countries for FTAs. We will not raise expectations now but we are clear about the process ahead and the possibilities beyond.

And, as we look to the future, we shall assess all the options on how best to develop our trading relations and what other mechanisms are also available.

And we will recruit and train many more trade experts so we are match fit to negotiate the best for Britain.

What will also continue is our dedication to providing market access to some of the world's poorest economies.

And our ability to change external tariffs will enable us to help some of the world's poorest countries to trade their way out of poverty.

A world of open trade will not only generate prosperity, but also peace and stability.

We can start afresh, and use our unique attributes to create a fairer, prosperous and more open trading future for the UK and the rest of the world.

The UK will remain a fantastic place with which to do business: investment will continue to flow and British goods will still adorn the supermarket shelves and homes of customers around the world.

We are open for business and we look to developing that with Malaysia in our new Brexit reality.

Thank you.

END

SPEECH FOR YB DATO' SRI MUSTAPA MOHAMED
MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INDUSTRY 

AT THE
OPENING CEREMONY OF THE ASEAN
YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS CARNIVAL (AYEC)
29 July 2016 (Friday)
11.40 a.m. – 11.50 a.m.
MATRADE HALL, MATRADE KUALA LUMPUR

(i) Khun Oudet Souvannavong, Chairman of ASEAN Business Advisory Council,

(ii) YBhg. Dato' Dzulkifli Mahmud, CEO of MATRADE,

(iii) Syed Nabil Aljeffri, Co-Chair of the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council,

(iiii) ASEAN Business Advisory Council Members, ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council Members, Notable speakers and moderators and esteemed ASEAN delegates.

(v) Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

1. I am delighted to be here this morning to officially declare open the first ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Carnival (AYEC). I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all those who have made the event possible, especially Syed Nabil and the AYEC Council Members. I also acknowledge the role of MITI and its agencies, in particular MATRADE, in the organisation of this Carnival.

Ladies and Gentlemen

2. There are those who say that youth is wasted on the young. But I think the presence of all of you today, engaging in discussions about very serious issues, gives the lie to that aphorism. For, to state the obvious, ASEAN's future lies in your hands. Sixty percent of ASEAN's 620-million-strong population is below 40, giving the region a vibrancy and dynamism lacking in the "greying" populations of much of the developed world.

3. The Governments of ASEAN Member States are fully cognisant that our youth, particularly entrepreneurs, will be the ones shaping ASEAN's destiny in the coming decades. The agendas of youth and entrepreneurship comprise a sizeable portion of the vision laid out in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which came into effect in January.

4. To give you an example of our commitment, during Malaysia's Chairmanship of ASEAN last year, we organised two important events to promote youth in ASEAN. Malaysia hosted the 1ASEAN Entrepreneurship Summit, in which where 15,000 young entrepreneurs from all over ASEAN were given the opportunity to share experiences and ideas. Another was the ASEAN Young Leaders Summit, which was attended by more than 300 youths from ASEAN and Dialogue Partner countries.

5. Malaysia also launched the "MyASEAN Internship: Beyond 2015" programme last year. This programme is a collaboration between MITI and Talent Corp. to engage with top ASEAN scholars and increase their awareness of ASEAN and the AEC. A total of 21 corporations, including Malaysian companies and global multinationals, participated in this programme by providing internships to ASEAN nationals from Malaysia, Indonesia, Viet Nam and Myanmar. The myASEAN Internship programme is back this year with a larger group of 23 employers, with up to 100 internship placements. MITI is also on board as the first Government employer and currently has 7 interns attached at various MITI offices throughout ASEAN.

Ladies and Gentlemen

6. The formal establishment of the AEC is the culmination of decades of market-liberalising and tariff-reduction measures undertaken by ASEAN. These initiatives have helped ASEAN's economy grow at an average of 5.1 per cent from 2007 to 2015. The forecast is that ASEAN will grow at around 5.5% per year over the next five years. ASEAN's growth trajectory stands in stark contrast to the struggling economies in much of the rest ofbthe world.

7. The AEC, which seeks to create a single market and production base in the region, has also made ASEAN one of the most attractive locations for investment. Companies from many parts of the world have either located, or are in the midst of locating, their production operations in the region. Just as important, investors are helping to create more high-value, high-knowledge jobs for our young workforce to help our economy move up the value chain.

8. The AEC, which will help deepen the region's economic integration, presents an unprecedented opportunity for young entrepreneurs. But in order to benefit fully, it is important that our youth and aspiring entrepreneurs familiarise themselves with the developments in the region. Take some time to study in detail the AEC Blueprint 2015, the AEC Blueprint 2025, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the free trade agreements ASEAN has signed with several countries. Studying these documents may not be as much fun as engaging with FaceBook, but the time spent will likely prove to be immeasurably more profitable!

9. That's not to in any way belittle, of course, the role of modern technology. The rapid pace of technological advances, coupled with the ease of access to information, represents a tremendous opportunity for young people to create meaningful change in ASEAN.

10. The ASEAN Community must be a connected community, especially given the challenges we will face in the new era that some have dubbed the "Fourth Industrial Revolution." Disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, 3D printing and hyper-connectivity will transform ASEAN and its community. We must adapt, we must be nimble and we must embrace change if ASEAN is to realise its economic potential and ensure prosperity for all its people, rather than just a chosen few.

Ladies and Gentlemen

11. In closing, I once again congratulate the Asean Young Entrepreneurs on this pioneering initiative, and wish all of you a successfully and fruitful programme. Many have taken the trouble to come from all over Asean for this event. I hope the relationships formed here will help you and ASEAN to prosper together in the years to come.

12. There are many success stories of startups coming out of Malaysia, and I believe some of them are here today, for example Grab, KFit, EasyParcel, Supahands, PitchIn and many more.

13. Some of the highlights at this event include an MOU between Malaysia's Export Promotion Agency, MATRADE and MAAYE to develop an ASEAN Champion Incubator Programme, representation from all 10 Asean Young Entrepreneurs Associations for their 1st AGM, the Asean-BAC Council Meeting, the Pitch Arena with major venture capitals and business angels in attendance such as 500startups and Cradle, 30 slots taken up at the Podium for entrepreneurs to share their journey, key topics such as sustainable development and alternative access to finance as well as 300 booths.

OPENING REMARKS FOR DATO' DZULKIFLI MAHMUD,
CEO OF MATRADE
AT BOSS AWARDS CEREMONY
30 JULY 2016

Dato' Susila Devi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of MATRADE,

Dato' Rohana Ramly, Chairman of the BOSS Awards' Panel of Judges,

BOSS Awards' Panel of Judges;

• Prof Datuk Dr. N. Marimuthu,
• Datuk Abdul Razak,
• Mr. K. Tharmapalan Balan,

YB Dato' Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry who is unable to be with us today due to other commitments. Dato Sri Mustapa has asked me to give this keynote address on his behalf.
I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to all those who have made this event possible, especially Syed Nabil and MAAYE members, all my staff at MATRADE, who have given their undivided support and commitment to ensure the success of the event and the smooth implementation of all activities. I would also like to extend my appreciation and gratitude to all those who has been involved, whether directly and indirectly in making this award ceremony a success.

Ladies and Gentlmen,
For the last two days, MATRADE Exhibition Centre has seen various business activities by young entrepreneurs, who took the opportunity to capitalize on this carnival in expanding their business network, clinching business deals and learning new skills and obtaining more knowledge through information sharing sessions with captains of industry from all around ASEAN.

This opportunity and knowledge sharing is an important part of entrepreneurship, presenting them with new ideas and inspiring them to innovate, creating new ideas and strengthening the performance of their global businesses.

The youth must not only uphold the spirit of entrepreneurship, but they must be willing to take up the challenges in becoming ASEAN champions. Do not be afraid to present new radical approach and ideas just because they are risky. You should remember that the bigger the risks, the bigger the rewards.

The award ceremony tonight is a way for us to honour and recognize the hard work and achievements of young entrepreneurs in Malaysia for pushing it beyond their limits. Young entrepreneurs must be bold and brave enough to make changes, become a trend setter and also become a socially responsible entrepreneur.

I am happy to note that the winners tonight have all the attributes of successful, innovative and socially responsible entrepreneurs and I trust they will become a source of inspiration for others to follow suit.
For the award winners tonight, I congratulate you on your success and for those who have yet to make it , please do not lose hope, afterall they didn't build Rome in a day. The road to success is not an easy one, but it is not impossible.

I would like to thank the panel of judges led by Dato Rohana Ramly for your dedication and wisdom in choosing the winners of tonight's awards. I understand that it was not an easy task to choose the best among the best but under your able stewardship and guidance, I am confident the winners were well selected.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
The path to success is only through hard work, strong commitment and untiring efforts in achieving your business dreams. For these young entrepreneurs, I encourage you to continue to pursue your dreams, do not let failure bring you down instead it should push you to put in stronger commitment and dedication so you can succeed domestically and internationally.

To conclude my remarks, I like to once again thank the Syed Nabil and his team at MAAYE, my colleagues at MATRADE, the panel of judges, as well as all the companies that took part in this award.

Thank you again and have fun tonight.

IFTAR WITH MATRADE’s MEDIA FRIENDS

Yang Berusaha Puan Susila Devi
Deputy Chief Executive Officer of MATRADE,

Senior Management Members of MATRADE,

The VIP of today’s Iftar our members of the Media,

Ladies and gentlemen.

Assalamualaikum and good evening.

A very warm welcome to MATRADE

1. First and foremost, it’s such a pleasure to be here with all members of the media and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your presence to our event which aims to primarily to strengthening the bond between MATRADE and our loyal media friends who have without fail been supporting us all the way to provide coverage of MATRADE’s events. Your role and contribution certainly have benefited to all our Malaysian business community one way or another.

2. Besides, I can see some new faces of our media friends and of course those who are non-Muslims have made your time to be here with us today. I truly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.  I do hope with this kind of engagement, we can work together in branding the name of Malaysia and hope that our combined efforts to grow our economy will continue to enable us to enhance our trade promotion efforts and the collaboration like media engagement to disseminate information with latest development in trade world as to further enhance and propel our economy. Hence, the usage of the hashtag #TheTimeToExportIsNow is very important to MATRADE indeed.

Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan yang dihormati sekalian,

3. Saya tidak bercadang untuk bercakap panjang, memandangkan juadah di depan mata yang lama menunggu kita semua. Sebelum saya mengakhiri ucapan saya, saya sekali lagi ingin mengambil kesempatan untuk mengucapkan SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI , MAAF ZAHIR BATIN daripada saya dan keluarga serta seluruh warga MATRADERs kepada rakan-rakan media yang beragama Islam yang bakal menyambut kedatangan bulan Syawal yang dijangka pada 6hb Julai 2016 nanti.

4. Before I end my short speech, allow me to read one Hari Raya ‘pantun’ to all of you.
"Bersinar indah cahaya bulan,
Ditambah pula cahaya bintang,
Sesama kita bermaaf-maafan,
Dihari lebaran yang bakal menjelang”

Thank you.