U.S. Embassy in Malaysia

POLICY HISTORY The United States has had a consular or commercial presence in the area comprising modern- day Malaysia since the 1800’s. Following its independence from the United Kingdom, the United States officially established diplomatic relations with Malaysia in 1957. The United States and Malaysia elevated the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership in April 2014. Today, the United States and Malaysia share a diverse and expanding partnership in trade, investment, security, environmental cooperation, and educational and cultural relations. Malaysia has a diverse democracy and is an important partner in U.S. engagement with Southeast Asia. The two countries cooperate closely on security matters, including counterterrorism, maritime domain awareness, and regional stability, and participate frequently in bilateral and multilateral training, exercises, and visits. Economic ties are robust, and there is a long history of people-to-people exchanges. U.S. Assistance to Malaysia U.S. assistance to Malaysia focuses on education, exchanges, counterterrorism, non-proliferation, security cooperation, and enhancing transparency, accountability and responsiveness of government. The U.S. Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program in Malaysia is among the largest in the world, helping improve the English language skills of thousands of Malaysian secondary school students. Other exchange programs, such as the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), help empower emerging voices in government, civil society and business. There are over 6,000 alumni of Department of State-sponsored exchange programs in Malaysia. Through USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives’ Malaysia Reform Initiative, the U.S. Government partners with the Government of Malaysia, civil society, and other interested stakeholders to support a more democratic society including assistance to promote transparency, accountability and freedom of speech. The United States supports Malaysia’s counterterrorism efforts through information sharing, capacity building programs for law enforcement and judicial authorities, and assistance to improve immigration security and border controls. The United States also partners with the Malaysian government and civil society organizations on programs and initiatives to counter the spread of violent extremism ideology. Non-proliferation assistance aims at enhancing Malaysia’s ability to enforce its export control laws to indict shipments and trans-shipments of controlled technology, dual-use commodities, and weapons of mass destruction and related commodities. Security cooperation and training builds capabilities among Malaysia’s armed forces and coast guard, allowing it to take on an expanded international role including peacekeeping operations.