Malaysia-Argentina Relations in the Spotlight

In mid-March, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah embarked on a visit to Argentina. While Saifuddin’s trip was tied to a wider multilateral engagement that brought officials from other countries to Buenos Aires, it also had a clear bilateral component. The trip served to reinforce the increasing attention that has been given to Malaysia-Argentina relations under the new Malaysian government.

The Malaysia-Argentina bilateral relationship dates back to the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1967. Although the relationship has remained underdeveloped despite that long history, there has been a growing recognition from both sides about the broader significance of better bilateral relations. Argentina is looking to boost economic and diplomatic ties with Southeast Asian states and Malaysia sees Latin American countries such as Argentina as important trade and investment partners.

This has continued over the past year amid wider domestic, regional, and global changes at play, including the shock election in Malaysia last May that brought to power the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir has a personal interest in deepening ties with Argentina. He made the last visit by a Malaysian leader to the country as part of a broader trip to Latin America in 1997 to boost economic ties, which increased the prospect of bilateral ties gaining a renewed focus at the outset of the PH government.

While movement has been slow, there have nonetheless been signs of a greater focus on Malaysia-Argentina bilateral relations under the new PH government. Of particular note was a move publicly announced last year in which state-run energy companies from both countries – Argentina’s Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF) and Malaysia’s Petronas – agreed to invest $2.3 billion in a shale oil project over the next four years in the La Amarga Chica block in Argentina’s Neuquen province. They had been testing shale oil potential at the field since 2015.

While Saifuddin’s visit, which lasted from March 18 to March 22, was tied to Malaysia’s participation in the Second High-Level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA + 40 Conference) in Buenos Aires, there was also a clear focus on enhancing bilateral ties as well as articulating Malaysia’s broader approach to Latin America as a region.

The nature of Saifuddin’s interactions during his visit was testament to this focus on enhancing Malaysia’s ties with Argentina and Latin America more generally. In an indication of the importance of the visit, he met with top Argentinian officials, including President Mauricio Macri and Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie. Saifuddin also delivered a talk on Malaysia’s foreign policy under the new government and its approach toward Latin America at the Argentinian Council for International Relations (CARI) – one of the few addresses of this kind that he has given thus far since assuming his position last year.

Per a statement issued by Malaysia’s foreign ministry, the two foreign ministers and their respective delegations discussed a range of issues within the bilateral relationship as well as in the wider region and the world. Unsurprisingly, conversations about the bilateral relationship were weighted heavily on the economic side, with both sides emphasizing areas such as renewable energy and agro-industrial biotechnology. Both sides also discussed issues related to the halal industry. The Argentinian government has been looking to comply with halal requirements in the Muslim-majority country in order to facilitate the production of halal beef for the Malaysian market, where Argentinian beef has been off the shelves since 2011.

Saifuddin’s visit ought to be viewed in perspective. This is just one engagement within Malaysia-Argentina relations, which had not been given much attention within wider Malaysian foreign policy. Both countries are also starting from quite a low base, since the relationship remains largely underdeveloped (as one marker of this, the Malaysian Foreign Ministry’s official figure for bilateral trade in 2018 is just $1.34 billion). This is also just one relationship amid wider domestic and foreign policy strategies on both sides. Moreover, Argentina is set for elections in October and the PH government in Malaysia faces a range of challenges in getting its basic reform agenda going. Mahathir’s own future position is unclear given an expected transition to his former deputy prime minister-turned opposition leader-turned prime minister-in waiting, Anwar Ibrahim.

But both sides seem to be intent on further developing ties in spite of these realities. Notably, in an interview with Malaysian national news agency Bernama tied to Saifuddin’s visit, Argentina’s Ambassador to Malaysia Manuel Balaguer Salas said that beyond the trip itself, he expected the uptick in ties to result in encouraging new investors into potential fields of economic cooperation such as roads, infrastructure, and ports. And while he hinted that higher-level visits may be difficult as Argentina heads for elections later this year, he did say that there could be a visit by the Argentinian Vice President Marta Gabriela Michetti Illia to Malaysia as early as May. Such engagements will continue to be important to watch in 2019 and beyond to get a sense of how the Malaysia-Argentina relationship develops into the future.