LONDON: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim held one-on-one business meetings with several leading companies during his visit to the United Kingdom.
One of the meetings was with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), which was led by its chief executive officer Bill Winters.
According to Malaysian officials, SCB is exploring collaboration with the Malaysian and Singapore governments to facilitate global business entry into the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
Anwar also met officials from Jaguar Land Rover, Raw Energy and Yondr, which has an ongoing project at Sedenak Tech Park, Johor, Bernama reported.
Also present were Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
Earlier, Anwar attended a roundtable meeting with captains of industry in the United Kingdom, joined by 53 leading industry players from 30 companies and organisations.
Among them were Airbus UK, GKN Aerospace, British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce, Shell and BAE Systems.
Both Malaysia and the United Kingdom have also held their first ministerial-led Joint Economic and Trade Committee meeting, marking the strengthening of already robust trade relations.
The United Kingdom was Malaysia’s 21st largest trading partner from January to November last year, as well as the fourth largest trading partner in Europe.
Bilateral trade in goods between the two countries amounted to RM15.29bil.
This could grow further now that the United Kingdom has joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), giving Malaysia and the United Kingdom their first formal free trade agreement.
The United Kingdom’s participation in the CPTPP came into force on Dec 15, 2024.
A statement from the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry said yesterday that Tengku Zafrul and the United Kingdom’s Trade Policy and Economic Security Minister Douglas Alexander held positive discussions in London to explore ways to enhance bilateral trade and investment.
“Both ministers support an ambitious joint working plan to strengthen bilateral cooperation in priority areas such as legal services, education, standards and compliance assessments, agriculture, and small and medium-sized enterprises,” the statement said.
The meeting also touched on potential cooperation in areas such as customs, Islamic finance, cooperatives and social enterprises.
“Both parties are committed to continuing close cooperation to support businesses in Malaysia and the United Kingdom, effectively leveraging this (first and formal free trade agreement),” the ministry added.
