The Philippines and Malaysia enjoy longstanding relations as neighbors and partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Throughout the years, the two countries’ closer cooperation has deepened through high-level exchanges with notable visits from their respective Heads of State/Government, the most recent of which were the Official Visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to the Philippines on October 14-16, 2012; the State Visit of former Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III to Kuala Lumpur on February 27-28, 2014; and the Working Visit of Prime Minister Najib Razak to Manila on March 27, 2014.
Formal diplomatic relations between the two countries was created since the establishment of the Philippine legation in Kuala Lumpur in 1959. The Philippines-Malaysia Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), founded in 1993 and later renamed as the Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) and other mechanisms, have further developed the Philippines and Malaysia’s understanding in terms of political, economic, tourism, security and cultural aspects, among others.
According to reports from the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is the Philippines’ eighth major tourist market for 2015, with over 155,814 Malaysian nationals visiting the Philippines. On the same year, there were over 554,917 Filipinos visiting Malaysia, making the Philippines the seventh major source of tourists for Malaysia.
As of December 2015, trade between the two countries reached US$271.50 million, making Malaysia the 10th largest trading partner of the Philippines.
