Malaysia |
East Timor |
---|
East TimorâMalaysia relations or MalaysiaâTimor-Leste relations are foreign relations between Malaysia and East Timor. Malaysia has an embassy in Dili, [1] and East Timor has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur. [2] Malaysia is supporting East Timor to be one of the members of ASEAN and towards becoming a democratic country. [3]
Since 1999, Malaysia has contributed to many UN peacekeeping missions on the country, such as one are the Operation Astute during the 2006 East Timorese crisis. [3] Malaysia also has provided assistance to Timor-Leste in the area of human resources development through various training programmes and providing assistance to East Timor in its nation building efforts. [3] Currently, Malaysia has been consider by East Timorese as a model to develop their countries. [4] [5] [6]
Both countries are currently working together to expand the scope of co-operation and currently tangible signs of a Malaysian present on East Timor can be seen in the form of restaurants, a school teaching English and the supply of construction materials and spare parts for vehicles. [7] [8] In 2014, a memorandum of understanding on cooperative development and co-operation signed between the University of Malaysia Sabah and the National University of East Timor, a day before an MoU on healthcare been signed. [9] [10] The total trade between the two countries has increased from U$10 million in 2012 to U$21.2 million in 2013 and the East Timorese government has expressed their interest to work with the Malaysian counterparts in oil and gas sectors. [11] [12]