Tatyana Gracheva

The role of Ailsa Terry as British High Commissioner-designate begins in Kuala Lumpur with the focus on enhancing UK-Malaysia ties, trade partnerships and climate cooperation through CPTPP. It marks a significant milestone in the ever-growing relationship between the United Kingdom and Malaysia.
Two nations expect to benefit from their inaugural Free Trade Agreement, established through the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which the UK joined just last month, so Ms Terry’s arrives at a crucial juncture. Bilateral trade and further solidify the ties between the two countries are expected to be enhanced by the agreement.
Ms Terry commences her appointment on August 10, 2023, succeeding Charles Hay MVO as the British High Commissioner to Malaysia. Her role in fostering diplomatic relations between the two nations will be formalized by presenting her credentials to His Majesty The Yang Di-Pertuan Agong later this month as part of her official duties.
Enthusiasm for the UK-Malaysia relationship and determination to reinforce various aspects of cooperation were expressed by Ms Terry upon her arrival, as well as the potential for expanded trade, education and technology partnerships, joint efforts to address the climate emergency and uphold international norms were highlighted by her. The opportunities for enhanced defence collaboration, particularly through the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) were also acknowledged.
According to Ms Terry, Malaysia is a global biodiversity hotspot, and UK-Malaysia Climate Partnership Memorandum of Understanding will enable both sides to work more closely together. She is also looking forward to working with Malaysia on important issues affecting regional security, stability, and prosperity, especially during the Malaysian chairmanship of ASEAN in 2025.
Ms Terry previously served as the Director of the FCDO’s Sanctions Directorate from 2022 to 2023, as the Foreign Affairs Sous-Sherpa and Director during the UK’s Presidency of the G7 in 2021 and as the Political Adviser to the EU Special Representative to Afghanistan in 2011.
This background of various diplomatic postings, including Islamabad and the UK Mission to the European Union in Brussels, means a wealth of expertise and knowledge she will bring to her new role.
Ms Terry matches her hope for fostering stronger UK-Malaysia ties with the economic potential of the new Free Trade Agreement. Easier access to the world’s fifth-largest economy and a consumer market of over 67 million people is opened up by the UK’s accession to the CPTPP on July 16, 2023. Malaysia in its turn gets a significant opportunity to strengthen bilateral trade and investment relationships.
Bilateral trade in goods and services between the UK–Malaysia attained approximately £5.6 billion in the four quarters to the end of 2022 (4Q22). A near-five per cent share of the Malaysian market in services (compared to less than 2% in goods), mainly in the travel, transportation, financial and other business services sub-sectors, currently belongs to the UK.
As it was stated in a press release last month, there is significant potential for growth in Malaysia and in UK businesses and investors’ interest in utilizing Malaysia as a hub in the wider region, given the UK’s strengths, especially in services.
However, studies conducted on the specific opportunities in Malaysia and in the UK for both nations’ goods and services trade and investments have been limited. Up to now, the broad or aggregated benefits of trading to the economies of both countries have been the focus of the studies.
According to the further statement of the release, research focused on how the UK’s accession to the CPTPP could benefit the different UK and Malaysian trade and services exporters as well as investors is now being proposed to fill this gap.

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The German Handelsblatt reports a downfall of Germany’s share of exports to China to its lowest level since 2015. According to the latest data from the German Federal Statistical Office, Germany’s share of exports to China stood at 6.2 % in the first half of 2023. It is a significant decline from the all-time high of 7.9% reached in 2020. This trend is supposed to continue in the following years, with predictions of a drop to 7.5% in 2021 and 6.8% in 2022.
Opposingly, approximately 10% of German exports in the first half of this year make the United States the most important buyer of goods “Made in Germany”. Considering the US is the world’s largest economy, this is not surprising. France and the Netherlands also surpass China in terms of importing German goods.
According to the “Berliner Zeitung”, Germany’s export growth is stagnant and it increasingly depends on China. Mistakes in politics and monetary policy that have led to the American economy surpassing the European economy are also highlighted in the article. Germany and other European countries have been put in a difficult situation by this.
As the German Federal Statistical Office’s data for June showed, German exports increased by a mere 0.1% from the previous month, amounting to 131.3 million euros. This lackluster performance was attributed by the Economic Federation to a “global economic downturn.” According to the chairman of the Foreign Trade Association (BGA), Chandura, although both the Chinese and US economies have shown slight improvement, German exporters do not expect a reversal of their declining exports.
International investors increased the concerns for the German economy by having started betting on a painful economic downturn in Europe. Ahmadinejad, a portfolio manager at Fidelity International, reports that Europe’s weak growth momentum compared to the strong demand and growth in the US is causing investors to worry. He blamed the European Central Bank’s (ECB) for its decision to raise interest rates too far and suggested that measures should be taken to prevent a deeper recession.
The concerns of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce over the weak performance of German foreign trade in the first half of the year were voiced. The backlog of orders was stated as shrinking. Additional pressure on export-oriented enterprises is being put by the persistently high inflation rate. It makes the economic outlook for German exports in the second half of the year “cloudy.”
According to the Munich Institute for Economic Research (Ifo), orders from automakers and their suppliers, who heavily rely on exports, are currently falling. The expectations for the auto industry in the coming months are also pessimistic, given the ongoing uncertainty in the global market.
As Carsten Brzeski, an analyst at ING Bank, commented, foreign trade has become more of a brake than a reliable growth engine for the German economy but. Simultaneously, the high dependence on Chinese imports, particularly in the context of the ongoing energy transition, was emphasized by him. Brzeski also stated that it would not be possible to do without Chinese raw materials and solar modules.
Germany’s need to diversify its export markets and reduce its reliance on China was highlighted by the decreasing share of German exports to China and the challenges that the global economic environment poses. Ways to boost competitiveness of the German economy, to adapt it to the changing global trade landscape and to maintain its strength should be found by the German government and business community.

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