Malaysia Overview

Photo credit

Oscar Arribas

3:06am Monday 6 February

New Zealand has strong official, business and individual links with Malaysia, which is an influential member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). It is one of the Southeast Asian countries best known to New Zealanders. There is a history of close and friendly links, stemming originally from Commonwealth ties, the aid and education-related Colombo Plan and shared security concerns.

Malaysia is New Zealand's second largest trade partner in ASEAN, our 9th largest export market globally and ranks as New Zealand's 7th largest source of imports, with crude oil and electronic products representing over 40 percent of imports.

The bulk of New Zealand exports to Malaysia are agriculture-related, with dairy products (mainly milk powder) accounting for around 45 percent. Southbound trade has also grown rapidly. New Zealand and Malaysia are also negotiating a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Map of Malaysia and surrounding region with ASEAN neighbours marked

Key demographics

Official Name	Federation of Malaysia
Land Area	329,758 sq km
Population	26.6 million (51% Malay, 24% Chinese, 11% indigenous, 7% Indian, 7% others)
Capital City	Kuala Lumpur (Putrajaya is the "administrative centre")
Religion	Islam (also Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity)
Language	Malay or Malaysian (Bahasa Malaysia), English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Tamil
Currency	Ringgit (RM)

Key statistics

GDP	US$186.72 billion
GDP per capita	US$13,385.13 (PPP estimate 2007)
Total exports	US$176.2 billion
Total imports	US$146.9 billion
Total NZ exports to Malaysia	NZ$854 million (2007-8)
Total NZ imports from Malaysia	NZ$1843.6 million (2007-8)

Sources of data: IMF (GDP data), World Bank (export/imports) and Statistics New Zealand (NZ exports/imports).