MANILA: Malaysia wants to further strengthen investment and trade cooperation with Australia as a way of moving forward amid the current global economic uncertainty, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
The Foreign Minister said this would include expanding mutually beneficial cooperation that could bring gains to both countries.
"Australia is our partner, and we enjoy very good relations, including business-to-business and people-to-people ties. In the current uncertain environment, we rely heavily on one another.
"At present, Malaysia imports large quantities of fertiliser and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia, while Australia imports substantial amounts of urea fertiliser supplied by PETRONAS. So we are exploring ways to further enhance cooperation between our two countries,” he said.
Mohamad’s comments came after a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, on the sidelines of the 59th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM), the Post-Ministerial Conferences (PMC) and Related Meetings here on Tuesday (July 21).
The approximately 30-minute meeting was also attended by Foreign Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Amran Mohamed Zin, director-general of the Asean-Malaysia National Secretariat at the Foreign Ministry Datuk Zanariah Zainal Abidin, and Malaysia’s Ambassador to the Philippines Datuk Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino Anthony.
Australia is an important economic partner for Malaysia, ranking as the country's 12th largest trading partner in 2025, with total bilateral trade valued at RM78.63bil (US$18.38bil).
Beyond trade, the close cooperation is also reflected in the high level of interdependence in the energy sector.
Based on 2025 bilateral data, Australia supplied about 96 per cent of Malaysia’s LNG imports, playing a crucial role in supporting the gas network in Peninsular Malaysia and the implementation of the National Energy Transition Roadmap.
At the same time, Malaysia is a major fuel supplier to Australia, accounting for about 17 per cent of Australia's total fuel imports. – Bernama
