AUSTRALIA has identified four key sectors with the highest potential growth to further deepen economic cooperation with Malaysia under its “Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040”.

The sectors are agriculture and food, resources, education and skills, and digital economy.

The blueprint said the two nations might explore further cooperation in the agriculture and food sector, including food control systems, food trade, and opportunities for agribusiness.

Australia provides a large portion of food products to Malaysia, including an estimated 10% of Malaysia’s dairy, 25% of its imported meat, and two-thirds of its imported wheat.

In the resources sector, the blueprint said Australia is keen to continue supporting Malaysia’s energy transition plan by deepening institutional partnerships and expanding technical assistance on decarbonisation pathways, and infrastructure funding among others.

It said that last year, natural gas, copper, and coal were the top six Australia-Malaysia goods exports.

The two nations signed the Australia-Malaysia Tech Exchange Memorandum of Understanding on digital collaboration in 2020 to enhance digital cooperation, reduce barriers to digital trade, and promote open digital trade rules.

It also hoped to include new provisions and collaborations in the digital and green economies in the Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement, it said.

In education, it said Australia and Malaysia have committed to further cooperation in vocational education and training, online tertiary education delivery and quality assurance, qualifications recognition, and research collaborations.

These will provide further opportunities for Australian education providers, it said.

The strategy was launched by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Asean Indo-Pacific Forum in Jakarta today on the sidelines of the Asean Summit.

It identified 10 priority sectors offering the most potential for economic growth – agriculture and food, resources, green energy transition, infrastructure, education and skills, visitor economy, healthcare, digital economy, professional and financial services, and creative industries. – Bernama, September 6, 2023.