GEOPOLITICAL shocks are reshaping the international order, impacting supply chains and repricing markets. Investors are asking a blunt question: which relationships can still be relied upon when conditions turn?

The UK-Malaysia relationship is one to count on. 

With trade and investment at the heart of our relationship, Malaysian investors play an invaluable role in the UK’s regeneration and green growth stories. From Brabazon to Battersea, Malaysian developers have committed more than £14 billion into major housing and regeneration projects across the UK.

On trade, we are already in a good place — our trading relationship was worth over £6 billion in 2025, an increase of over 5% from the previous year. When our prime ministers met in January 2025, they agreed to elevate the UK-Malaysia relationship to a Strategic Partnership, committing to deeper collaboration in areas like trade and investment; defence; clean energy and education.

Our countries are also exploring a potential Digital Trade Agreement to build on our joint membership of CPTPP, which has turbocharged bilateral trade since we joined in December 2024.

I am delighted to be in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, May 11, 2026, to meet key investors and set out how the UK is strengthening our investment environment and creating exciting, new opportunities for partnership.

With today’s global uncertainty, investors are not just looking for returns. They are naturally doubling down on resilient, well-regulated markets — looking for stability, speed, and clarity.

This is what the UK offers to Malaysian investors today. Our track record of welcoming international capital is longstanding — the UK has the third highest stock of assets owned through FDI in the world, worth £2.1 trillion at the end of 2024.

This reflects our many fundamental strengths: entrepreneurship, deep-rooted stability, world-class education, and sustained investment in research and development create the conditions for growth. 

The UK has a bold ambition to take this further. We want to be the best place in the world for investment, and our Modern Industrial Strategy is central to how we turn ambition into action. It is a 10-year plan backed by concrete action and funding — placing big bets on the industries of the future to retain our competitive edge and give investors the confidence and certainty they need.

The UK’s eight priority sectors including digital and technologies, advanced manufacturing and clean energy, align closely with those identified in the 13th Malaysia Plan. So, we have a shared ambition, shared strengths, and shared commercial opportunities. For Malaysian investors, the Modern Industrial Strategy unlocks barriers and creates investable opportunities in sectors such as real estate, infrastructure, and clean energy.

On real estate and infrastructure — the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will fast track major planning decisions by the end of this Parliament, giving investors greater predictability and helping to accelerate significant projects.

These reforms sit alongside the National Housing Strategy, including proposals for a new Housing Bank to unlock stalled sites, and the New Towns Programme which will deliver modern, connected communities built around transport, energy, and essential services. YTL Corporation is already developing a 6,500 new home site near Bristol, which has been identified as one of seven potential new locations under the programme.

All this builds on an already strong base. The UK is home to one of the largest and most liquid real estate markets in the world, with residential real estate worth £9 trillion and commercial worth £1 trillion.

On clean energy, we’re encouraging further investment by improving grid connectivity and reducing connection timeframes to support the implementation of priority projects.  

We are also doubling down on industries with the greatest potential — including through £14.2 billion of funding for Sizewell C (3.2GW nuclear power station), £2.5 billion for three Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactors, and £1 billion for offshore wind supply chains.

Great British Energy will further support this by crowding in private capital and derisking projects, investing more than £8.3 billion over this Parliament to accelerate clean power deployment.  

These reforms are creating a more attractive environment for Malaysian investors. Our Office for Investment, a cross-government joint unit, has also expanded to provide personalised and seamless support to investors — be it through creating clear and commercially credible investment opportunities, or problem-solving including planning, grids, skills and visas. 

Our message to Malaysian investors is simple. In a volatile world, you can count on the UK for the qualities investors value most: stability, speed and clarity. We are offering practical reforms that reduce friction, shorten timelines, and improve the predictability that long-term capital depends on. 

The UK-Malaysia relationship has stood the test of time. With renewed ambition on both sides, we can further deepen it — unlocking investment, building resilient supply chains, and creating shared growth in the industries that will define the next decade.

Lord Jason Stockwood is the UK Minister for Investment.