MALAYSIAN-BRITISH PARTNERSHIPMALAYSIAN-BRITISH PARTNERSHIPThe British Minister for Southeast Asia Meg Munn flanked by ASLI President Mirzan Mahathir and SeniorVice President Jean Wong.From left: Dato David Yeoh, Lord Levene, Sir Michael Savory, Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar and Dato Dr.Michael Yeoh.Sir Richard Needham,Dato Azman Mokhtar, Mr. Martin Barrow and Dr. Gerald Lyons.Lord Levene Chairman of Lloyds, Dato Dr. Munir Majid, Sir Michael Savory, Tunku Abdul Aziz and LordGeorge.Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamad Yakcop with former British High Commissioner BruceCleghorn and HSBC's Dato Zarir Cama.Minister of Science, Technology & Innovation Dato Seri Dr. Jamaluddin Jarjis, the Lord Mayor ofLondon, Dato Dr. Michael Yeoh and Dato Dr. Munir Majid at the Malaysian-British Conference in London.Former Governor of Bank of England Lord George, Dato Vinod Sekhar and participants at the conference.Foreign Minister Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar officiating the Cambridge-Malaysia Forum whilst Prof. SirDavid Bailey President St. Catharine's College, Cambridge University looks on.In conjunction with Malaysia’s Golden Jubilee, the <strong>Asian</strong> <strong>Strategy</strong> &<strong>Leadership</strong> <strong>Institute</strong> organized two important events in London. Theseprogrammes also marked the 50 years of bilateral relationship betweenMalaysia and Britain.The first event was the Commemorative Conference on 50 years ofMalaysia-British Partnership: Moving Forward on 25 October 2007.ASLI jointly organized this event with the British Malaysian Society andthe Asia House. The event also received the support of the MalaysianHigh Commission in London, the Commonwealth Business Council andthe British Foreign & Commonwealth Office. In view of the significanceof this event, the Lord Mayor of London offered his official residence, theMansion House as the venue of the conference.The one-day event was launched by Dato’ Seri Syed Hamid Albar,Malaysia’s Foreign Minister and was closed by Senator Tan Sri MohamedNor Yakcop, Malaysia’s 2nd Finance Minister. Malaysia’s Minister ofScience, Technology and Innovation, Dato Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjisdelivered the Special Luncheon Address. Other role players whocontributed to the event included the Hon. Meg Munn, the ParliamentaryUnder Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Sir MichaelSavory, the Lord Mayor Locum Tenes, Dato Neville Green of BritishMalaysian Society, Lord Levene Chairman of Lloyd’s of London, LordGeorge of St Tudy former Governor Bank of England, Tunku Abdul AzizIbrahim, Dato Dr Mohd Munir Bin Majid Chairman of Malaysia Airlines,Tan Sri Radzi of Telekom, Mr Mark Tucker Group Chief Executive ofPrudential Plc, Prof Christine Ennew of University of Nottingham.The event attracted 150 delegates comprising both British and Malaysianparticipants and was supported by Petra Group, Kuala Lumpur Kepong,Genting Group, MUI Group, LimKokWing University of CreativeTechnology and Sri Indrajaya as well as HSBC bank as luncheon sponsor.Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar said that, “the way forward for bothMalaysia and the UK lies in the synergy and motivation that we cangenerate in terms of finding new areas of trade, research andinnovation, the sharing of new technologies and establishing moreefficient and economic means of collaboration that can be mutuallybeneficial to both the Malaysian and the British people alike”.He pointed that, “Both Britain and Malaysia must be partners in theworld of ideas and concepts for global peace and security. Above all,there must be political will and commitment by the government to set thetone for meeting these new and dynamic challenges”.The British Minister for Southeast Asia spoke on the strength of tiesthat have bound the UK and Malaysia since independence. Sheelaborated on the strong education links, business and traderelationships and new areas of partnerships such as Islamic finance,climate change and sustainable development.The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office held a Special Receptionat the Locarno Suite of the FCO at King Charles Street. The receptionwas hosted by the Hon. Meg Munn, the Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (OverseasTerritories, South East Asia, the Caribbean and Central America) andattended by approximately 200 guests.The programmes in London continued on the 26 October 2007 withthe Cambridge Malaysia Forum which was jointly organized betweenASLI, St Catharine’s College and Cambridge University MalaysiaSociety. This event was attended by approximately 80 people andwas supported by Khazanah Nasional. Both Dato’ Seri Syed HamidAlbar, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister and Senator Tan Sri Mohamed NorYakcop, Malaysia’s 2nd Finance Minister addressed the forum. TheForeign Minister in his Opening Keynote Address spoke on Malaysia’sforeign policy priorities whilst the 2nd Finance Minister spoke onMalaysia’s economic transformation. Other speakers included Prof.Sir Christopher Bayly, President of St. Catharine’s College, Dato DrMunir Majid of Malaysia Airlines, Datuk Vinod Sekhar of Petra Group,Mr Walter Herriot of St John’s Innovation Centre, Cambridge and DatoAzman Mokhtar of Khazanah Nasional.The Forum examined on Malaysia’s transformation into a knowledgebasedeconomy, its economic challenges and how Cambridge canassist in Malaysia’s development.Again, this event was to commemorate Malaysia’s 50 years ofindependence and the close relationship Cambridge has had withMalaysia prior to and after Malaysia’s independence. Significantly,Malaysia’s Father of Independence Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra wasan undergraduate and later an Honorary Fellow at St Catharine’sCollege.In conjunction with these commemorative events in Britain, ASLI alsopublished a Special Publication on the 50 years of British-Malaysianties. The Prime Minister wrote the Foreword in this Special Publicationwhere he commended ASLI for commemorating this landmark in thehistory of our bilateral relations. The Prime Minister wrote that bothcountries must continuously strive to explore new areas of cooperationand enter into novel forums of collaboration. “I believe this is thechallenge that both countries must meet in order to sustain theconfidence in our relationship and meet the aspirations that ourpeoples have for the future”, added Dato Seri Abdullah AhmadBadawi. The Prime Minister also felt that the long ties of history andthe strong partnerships of the present should be able to ensure anenduring friendship between Malaysia and UK long into the future.Tune Money CEO Tengku Zafrul and David Wong, Doctoral candidate at Cambridge University.Lord Levene Chairman of LIoyds London and Dato Dr. Munir Majid Chairman Malaysia Airlines.Dato Azman Mokhtar and Dato Dr. Michael Yeoh being introduced to Professor Dame Jean Thomas,Master, St.Catharines's College, University of Cambridge.Khazanah Nasional Managing Director Dato Azman Mokhtar and PETRA Group CEO Dato Vinod Sekhar atthe Cambridge Malaysia Forum organised by ASLI.45