Prime Minister Gillard warmly welcomed Prime Minister Najib on his first visit to Australia since taking office in 2009. The visit followed Prime Minister Gillard's visit to Malaysia in November 2010.
The Leaders agreed that the relationship between Australia and Malaysia had entered a new chapter. The relationship was now more multi-faceted and stronger than ever before. Leaders committed to intensify this cooperation across the full range of bilateral, regional and global issues.
The two Prime Ministers recognised the breadth and warmth of people-to-people links as a foundation of the bilateral relationship. Educational links were especially strong, with large numbers of Malaysians studying in Australia and three Australian universities having established campuses in Malaysia. Leaders welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to further strengthen cooperation in education. Leaders also discussed increasing cooperation on vocational education and training. They noted the value of the active program of sister-schools relations between Australian and Malaysian schools, and the role of the Australian Government's Australia-Malaysia Institute including in building the next generation of people-to-people relationships. Leaders further welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on sports cooperation as a means of expanding people-to-people linkages into new areas.
The Prime Ministers discussed domestic policy reform agendas. Malaysia welcomed continued Australian collaboration in the areas of public sector reform, productivity and government transformation. The two leaders agreed superannuation reform was another prospective area for collaboration. Prime Minister Gillard welcomed Prime Minister Najib's leadership on economic reform in Malaysia and noted Australia's ongoing support. She noted that links were being developed between the Australian Public Service Commission and the Australian Productivity Commission and their Malaysian counterparts and encouraged this development.
The two Prime Ministers reiterated their desire to conclude a quality Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement (MAFTA), noting that Trade Ministers would have an opportunity to continue MAFTA discussions at the Australia-Malaysia Joint Trade Committee scheduled to be held this year. The two countries agreed it was important to deliver substantive progress in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations this year. Leaders underlined their commitment to an open and transparent international trading system and their desire to see the Doha Round of trade negotiations concluded this year, and expressed their support for greater two-way investment.
The two Prime Ministers committed to deepening the longstanding defence relationship, noting this year was the 40th anniversary of the Five Power Defence Arrangements. They welcomed the contribution being made by the Malaysia Australia Joint Peacekeeping Initiative in strengthening regional peacekeeping capacity and agreed to conduct a third joint peacekeeping workshop in 2011.
The two Prime Ministers discussed the situation in Afghanistan, noting their respective contributions. They welcomed the impact of the Malaysia-Australia Education Project for Afghanistan (MAEPA) in strengthening the Afghan education sector, noting 60 teacher trainers from Afghanistan had been trained to date, agreed to commence a third phase of this project in 2011 and to explore options for extending the training to other developing countries, including ASEAN countries. Given the success of the model, Leaders saw advantage in identifying further areas of assistance to Afghanistan. Leaders also agreed to explore opportunities for Afghan recipients of Australian development scholarships to undertake their studies at Australian institutions of higher education in Malaysia.
Leaders welcomed the outstanding cooperation between our law enforcement agencies on transnational crime, including people smuggling and counter-terrorism. Prime Minister Gillard expressed appreciation for Malaysia's regional leadership and effectiveness in these areas and Leaders reiterated their commitment to work side-by-side in addressing them. In this regard, Leaders looked forward to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Civil Maritime Law Enforcement Operations as a means of further strengthening Australia-Malaysia cooperation.
Leaders noted that people smuggling was a regional problem requiring a regional solution and agreed to continue to cooperate closely in addressing it. Prime Minister Gillard updated Prime Minister Najib on Australia's proposal for a Regional Cooperation Framework and agreed to continue discussions at the forthcoming Bali Process Ministerial Meeting. Prime Minister Gillard welcomed Malaysia's recent amendment to the Anti Trafficking In Persons and Anti Smuggling Of Migrants Act 2007 that also criminalises the offences relating to people smuggling. Prime Minister Gillard also expressed Australian support for the Malaysian Academy on Transnational Organised Crime and Australia's willingness to assist the Academy's work.
The two Leaders discussed the expansion of the East Asia Summit (EAS) with the membership of the United States and Russia and agreed on the importance of strengthening the agenda of the EAS to address economic, political and security challenges in the region. They reiterated their commitment to APEC as the pre-eminent forum for regional economic cooperation. They agreed to work closely together in the lead-up to Australia's hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth in October 2011.
Prime Minister Gillard welcomed Malaysia's announced intention to establish a new Consulate General of Malaysia in Melbourne. The Leaders viewed this initiative as a welcome step towards enhancing bilateral cooperation, people-to-people relations and business linkages.
The two Prime Ministers also discussed cooperation in the area of Islamic Finance and how Malaysia could share its expertise in developing the Islamic Banking and Finance sector in Australia.
The Leaders acknowledged the need to address adverse impacts of climate change, including in relation to food security.