A famous Korean saying goes, "Reach Gangnam (southeast part of Seoul that is a symbol of wealth and education) following friends." Korea came a long way by following good examples of many friends. One of the good friends is Malaysia, who also has risen rapidly based on strong companionships with many countries worldwide. Korea IT Times visited the Embassy of Malaysia to portray the two countries' undying friendship.
Charm
There is something about Malaysia that makes both East and West irresistible to fall in love with. Such enchantment often switched on as a strong desire to possess the country. Once the desire of Portuguese, Islam, Netherlands, England, and Japan today became an independent country where many people around the world consider as their "second home". Malaysia is a very special country for Korea as well. The history of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and Korea is coming to the fifty-first anniversary this December. The Joint Statement between Korea and Malaysia last December agreed that bilateral ties between Korea and Malaysia have progressed to a new stage of partnership for co-prosperity. Ambassador Dato' Ramlan Ibrahim added, "We also agreed to consider measures to deepen bilateral cooperation in trade and the economy, including a free trade pact. Korea and Malaysia agreed to cooperate in variety of sectors, including green industries like bio and nuclear energy, IT, communication, transportation, oil, and gas."
The sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Sri Mohd Najib, is invited to visit President Lee Myung-bak in April. This visit is significant in a sense that the meeting is expected to ensure a sustain momentum in our common desire to strengthen bilateral relations in new growth areas. Mr. Ibrahim said, "The seminar will be conducted in the context of promoting greater participation of the private sector in all the agreed areas of collaboration and as well as deepening the existing ones."
Embrace
Getting to know the Ambassador of Malaysia best represented the country's image as an open and spiritual country. In the most honest yet modest form, the Ambassador is fully aware of all the strengths and flaws of Korea, which is based on his direct interaction with people of all ranks, yet with great openness, embraced everything about Korea as it is and said with a great passion, "It is this difference I love so much about Korea." The rising number of Korean businesses and tourists in Malaysia is clear evidence that Mr. Ibrahim's intrigue and love is not one-way. "Our total trade last year is US$15.6 billion and there are over 260,000 Korean tourists visiting Malaysia.
Approximately 80,000 Malaysians are visiting Korea and the numbers are expected to increase particularly with the launching of AirAsia X in November, 2010," said Mr. Ibrahim. Then what are the most up-to-date collaborations between Korea and Malaysia
General cooperation
Ambassador Dato' Ramlan Ibrahim stated, "Malaysia's goal by the year 2020 is to become a high-income country. We are upgrading our infrastructure and also looking to emulate Korea in green growth areas. There are a lot of potentials in solar energy and green technology that could be explored together. The development of electric cars, hydrogen fuel cells, light emitting diodes (LED), biomass, water resource management, solar energy, wind power, nuclear energy, science & technology and R&D education will be the basis of our future cooperation for the upcoming century. Prior to this, Malaysia had been securing ships from a Korean shipyard. We have taken delivery of 18 tankers and Malaysia's first ever Petronas floating tanker would be built by a Korean shipyard." He further noted the collaboration between NCSB Engineering Sdn. Bhd. and Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd. Together known as SAMSUNG-NAIM JV received a Letter of Award from Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. with an estimated value of US$ 766,391,965 for the provision of Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning services for the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal Project.
IT cooperation
"A number of Korean companies are already working with Malaysian counterparts with content development and upgrading broadband services in Malaysia." Mr. Ibrahim continued, "SK Telecom recently signed a contract to buy a 25.8 percent stake in Malaysian broadband network operator, Packet One Networks, for US$100 billion. This deal will make SK Telecom the second-largest shareholder in Packet One after Malaysian-listed Green Packet Bhd. The move gives SK Telecom a 25.8 percent stake in Packet One Networks, Malaysia's leading provider of high-speed wireless broadband with about 175,000 subscribers. SK Telecom, which controls more than half of South Korea's mobile market, is hoping to use the investment as a springboard for expansion in Southeast Asia. Under the deal, the two companies will share their technology and network expertise as well as customer products portfolio. Packet One, Malaysia's first WiMAX provider is looking to expand its high-speed Internet services and increase its coverage from 38 percent to 65 percent by 2012."
Upgrade
When IT meets tourism in Malaysia, the strengths of the two countries are expected to collaborate again. Malaysia is already in the process of converging tourism and IT. "IT has influenced every aspect of our lives over the last few decades in a tremendous manner with the tourism sector being one of the chief beneficiaries. Tourism Malaysia has strived to cope with such rapidly changing ITC environment and develop effective communication channels for end users. Introduction of a tourism portal site for Malaysia tourism (www.tourism.gov.my) is a site that provides extensive information, booking facilities, and bilateral communications for end users. Tourism Malaysia has also put much emphasis on social network services and provides the means for users to interact more closely and effectively over the Internet. This includes twitter services and applications by Tourism Malaysia. We are continuously seeking new ways of communication by taking opportunities from technological development."
The Embassy of Malaysia is playing a vital role in the context of tourism development as well. "We have taken micro-level development measures to boost bilateral exchanges of tourism between the two nations. Education exchange programs and Malaysia's My Second Home programs are good examples of this and we are currently taking further steps to bolster exchange activities. These features are not only with government sector organizations such as Korea Tourism Organization and ASEAN Korea Centre, but also with other organizations, associations, and private sector entities. We are also practicing friendship building activities through social networks such as Friends of Malaysia Association and Bunga Raya Club. The Embassy has an overarching responsibility of creating cooperative working environment that can boost sustainable exchange activities for our two countries," Mr. Ibrahim expressed.
Signature
Malaysia is a country that is composed of multi-culture accepting atmosphere, global-language speaking environment, business friendly policy, quality labor forces, no religion conflicts and no-racism conflicts. What is so intriguing for the business people around the world is its geographic location: China, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and many more countries are close by and are in active trades with Malaysia already. Therefore, Future collaborations between Korea and Malaysia are expected to strengthen both countries as a whole.
