Who we are & how do we engage with the world?

Our country, Malaysia is an active member of various international organisations, including:

the Commonwealth of Nations,

the United Nations and many of its specialized agencies, including

• UNESCO,
• World Bank,
• International Monetary Fund,
• International Atomic Energy Agency;
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations;
• Asian Development Bank,
• Five-Power Defense Arrangement,
• South Centre,
• East Asia Summit (EAS),
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC),
• The Commonwealth,
• Non-Aligned Movement, and
• Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Under the leadership of Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohammad, Malaysia’s foreign policy stance began to take a much greater economic orientation that before.

Coupled with a strong and nationalistic defence of the rights, interest and aspirations of developing countries and the advocacy of south-south co-operation and also a program of outreach to Islamic countries through the OIC.

Other issues the are interesting for discussions:

• Relations with Singapore
• Spratly islands and Limbang,
• Foreign migrants (Indonesian and Filipino migrants)
• Malaysia’s Foreign Policy Principle
• Islamic Positions (Palestine, Iraq, Islamic terrorism)
• 9MP on Federal Government Development Allocation and Expenditure for Ministry of Foreign Affairs