ON April 3, the Russian Federation and Malaysia celebrated an important date — the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. This event provided a fine opportunity to take stock of the progress made and set targets for our joint work in the future.
The history of ties between our peoples dates back many centuries. Throughout the 19th century, Malaya was visited by many Russian navigators and travellers. Of special interest are the anthropological and ethnographic studies by the outstanding Russian ethnographer and traveller, Nikolay Miklukho-Maklay, who highlighted the unwavering friendly attitude of the local population.
During World War 1, the Russian Navy took part in battles in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Russian sailors from the cruiser Zhemchug who died in a battle against the German cruiser Emden in October 1914 were buried in a cemetery in George Town, Penang. We are grateful to our Malaysian partners for their care and respect for the memory of our compatriots.
Contacts between the two states picked up momentum in the mid-1960s. In April 1967, the establishment of diplomatic relations was accompanied by the signing of a trade agreement. The Soviet trade mission in Kuala Lumpur was established in November 1967, and the Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was opened in April 1968. Malaysia opened its diplomatic mission in Moscow in November of the same year.
This period saw a rise in the learning of the Russian language in Malaysia when the Technological University organised language courses for students of its engineering and trade departments. The first group of Soviet students, in turn, arrived in Kuala Lumpur for internship at the Universiti of Malaya in 1970.
The first official visit of then Malaysian prime minister Tun Abdul Razak to our country in 1972 was a landmark event, which resulted in the signing of agreements on economic, technical, cultural and scientific cooperation. Over the past decades, through joint efforts, we have come a long way in many areas and set a solid bilateral legal framework. Today, Malaysia is an important and promising partner of the Russian Federation in the Asia-Pacific region.
The political dialogue at high and top levels has been marked with dynamic development. The talks between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in May last year in Sochi on the sidelines of the Russia–Asean Summit gave strong impetus to cooperation. The consistent implementation of the agreements reached at the negotiations fosters cooperation in the trade and investment, military and technical, and humanitarian spheres.
In March, last year, the chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Valentina Matvienko, paid a visit to Kuala Lumpur and Dewan Negara president Datuk S.A. Vigneswaran visited Moscow in September. Parliamentarians of our two countries fruitfully collaborate at the annual sessions of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum.
We attach special importance to trade and economic cooperation. Over the past year, great progress has been made in this sphere, with the mutual trade turnover having increased by 12 per cent to reach US$2.2 billion (RM9.4 billion). Diversifying bilateral trade, first of all through increasing the share of high-technology products and intensifying investment exchanges, are currently on the agenda. Among the areas of collaboration that we consider most promising are energy, including nuclear energy, information and communication technologies, biotechnologies, civil aviation industry, innovative medicine, and protection of information.
To fulfil the potential of cooperation in practical areas, the Russian-Malaysian Joint Commission for Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation was established under an agreement signed in November 2015 on the margins of the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur. The Russia–Malaysia Business Council, which facilitates direct contacts between the business communities of both states, greatly contributes to this work.
Military and technical cooperation is broadening. We appreciate that the Malaysian armed forces uses modern Russian military aircraft. We are developing cooperation in the aerospace sector: it was a historic moment when in 2007, with Russia’s support, the first Malaysian cosmonaut, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, travelled to the International Space Station.
Humanitarian and educational cooperation is also expanding. Malaysia regularly hosts concerts featuring Russian musicians and performers and organises exhibitions and presentations of our country’s cultural heritage. About 3,000 Malaysians study at Russian universities, mostly at medical and engineering schools. We are ready to receive more students, primarily in oil production, aviation industry and aerospace educational programmes. We will further support the promotion of the Russian language at Malaysian educational institutions.
We appreciate the current level of cooperation between our Foreign Offices. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and I had a discussion on the sidelines of the Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting in August 2015 in Kuala Lumpur regarding the prospects for expanding this cooperation.
Our countries collaborate in the framework of the United Nations and major regional platforms, drawing on the shared or similar approaches to the most pressing challenges of our time. We are interested in enhancing the dialogue aimed at building a new security and cooperation architecture in the Asia-Pacific region and stepping up joint efforts to combat international terrorism and transnational crime.
We are optimistic about the future of Russian-Malaysian relations. We are convinced that the fulfilment of their great potential serves the vital interests of our peoples and contributes to stability, security and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.
The writer is the foreign minister of Russia