European Commission Directorate-General for Trade

Malaysia

Malaysia is one of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The ASEAN countries as a group are the EU's third largest trading partner outside Europe, after the United States and China. Bilateral trade in goods between the EU and ASEAN reached some €146.7 billion in 2010.

Malaysia is the EU's second trading partner inside ASEAN, behind Singapore, with bilateral trade in goods reaching 31.9 billion euro in 2010.  Malaysia has not been a major trading partner in services so far, but opportunities have already been increasing due to its liberalization policies and should further advance with an FTA.

In 2011, Malaysia was the EU's 23rd largest trading partner (in goods).

Negotiating better access for EU exporters to the dynamic ASEAN market was identified as a priority under the 2006 Global Europe trade strategy.

Possible future FTA negotiations between the EU and Malaysia

After FTA negotiations between the EU and a group of ASEAN countries proved difficult, EU Member States in December 2009 gave the green light for the Commission to pursue negotiations towards free trade agreements with individual ASEAN countries, beginning with Singapore. At the same time, the EU is not losing sight of the ultimate goal of achieving an agreement within a regional framework.

As a next step in a series of possible initiatives within the ASEAN region, the EU member states approved the launch of negotiations for an FTA with Malaysia on 10 September 2010. Six negotiation rounds have taken place so far, the sixth round took place 8-11 February 2012. The joint objective is to conclude these negotiations in 2012.

More information on EU relations with Malaysia can be found on the external relations website