In this interview, Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme, Managing Editor of The Energy Republic, talks to Zuhaila Sedek, Trade Commissioner at the Malaysian External Trade Development Cooperation (MATRADE), about the opportunities for trade and investments in Malaysia, as well as strategic partnerships between Malaysia and its European allies.
Zuhaila is championing trade and investments for MATRADE in Europe. She is Malaysia’s Trade Commissioner based in Paris, under the patronage of MATRADE, where she leads the country’s trade and economic diplomacy efforts across France, Spain, Portugal, Monaco, and key Francophone markets. With a career spanning economic diplomacy, public affairs, and journalism, Zuhaila brings a unique blend of strategic insight and communication prowess to her role.
She has been instrumental in driving Malaysia’s trade agenda in Europe — facilitating high-impact partnerships, leading Malaysia Pavilions at international trade fairs, and championing policy advocacy on sustainability and market access. Her efforts have contributed to measurable growth in bilateral trade and greater visibility for Malaysian industries abroad.
Notably, she is a former Director of Communications at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Zuhaila shaped Malaysia’s economic messaging during the nation’s APEC 2020 Chairmanship and the COVID-19 recovery phase. Prior to that, she was an Economic Officer at MATRADE and began her professional journey as a journalist and editor with Malaysia’s top media outlets, a foundation that continues to guide her work in strategic storytelling and public diplomacy.
Fluent in English, Malay, and Indonesian — with basic knowledge of French — Zuhaila is also a passionate advocate for women’s empowerment and responsible trade. Her current focus lies in promoting sustainable, inclusive, and innovation-driven trade between Malaysia and Europe. Excerpts:
TER: Ms Sedek, you have had an exceptional career journey having spent several years as a Journalist and Communication professional, rising to the Economic Officer at MATRADE and former Director of Communications at the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and now working in MATRADE as the Malaysian Trade Commissioner and Diplomat covering France, Spain, Portugal & Monaco. How would you describe your career journey and its impact on your current leadership role at MATRADE? What inspirations would you like to share from your working experience so far?
Sedek: I have spent many years in the private sector and the journalism world. I was also a writer for 10 years, covering news, business, culture, lifestyle, and property, including writing for online magazines. This has been very enriching because I get access to people at the top, the bottom, and in between. This is what makes journalism unique because you will get access to things that many people do not have the opportunity to do.
I would credit a lot of my growth today to my journalism years. I’ve always wanted to be a journalist since I was eight years old. And I was lucky to be allowed to be one. When the digital boom came, I realized that the journalism world would be changed forever. Right now, we’re talking about Artificial Intelligence.
However, I decided to try something new, which is working for the government. When I joined the Malaysian government sector, I fell head over heels with it, because, again, I got access to people, information, and knowledge from different layers. This is something that I enjoy doing because it contributed a lot to the way I see things, and the way I contribute to matters. It’s all about contribution.
I’m now a civil servant, and I love contributing to my country and people. I’m doing it through economic development.
My forte is all about international trade. A big chunk of my work is centered around communication.
So when I was in the journalism world, it was about communication as well. And then I went into the public sector, which is also about communication, but from a different angle.
As a trade commissioner, it is another type of communication method. But I’m now communicating with businesses. I’m communicating about Malaysia and trying to connect people so that we understand each other.
I think it’s very important to have a voice to articulate how people can build connections. So that’s basically the core of my work. The case studies that I talk about would be businesses and trade in different sectors and industries.
TER: What are your cardinal focus areas in driving trade and investment between Malaysia and its European allies?
Sedek: I am a trade commissioner at the Malaysian government agency called Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE). It is a government agency established in 1993. It’s similar to Business France.
Our role is to connect Malaysian industries with foreign industries through the industry players.
We have 49 offices around the world. In Europe, we have offices in Paris, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Milan, Rotterdam, and London.
I was stationed in Frankfurt before looking after the Deutsch region in Germany, as well as Austria, Switzerland, and now I’m covering France, Spain, Portugal, and Monaco.
Our focus is to build bridges, create business interest, and influence people to be interested in doing business with Malaysia. There are many ways to do business with Malaysia. One of them is through trade and investment.
Another way to doing business with Malaysia is through buying and selling. We export and import. It helps to strengthen the inclusion of Malaysian companies in the global supply chain. We also receive foreign direct investments. We also have Malaysian companies that invest abroad.
Malaysia believes in multilateralism. Malaysia doesn’t believe in unilateralism. We believe in working together in strategic collaborations to overcome challenges.
My call is to help industries find connection as well as articulate and help people to understand each other.
TER: How have your efforts contributed to facilitating successful trade and business development for Malaysian companies operating in Europe?
Sedek: I can see that the interest towards Malaysia is growing, especially now that Malaysia is the Chair of ASEAN.
ASEAN is a regional bloc and association for the Southeast Asian countries. We are ten member countries in ASEAN.
This year, Malaysia is the Chair and our role is to champion the narrative of how ASEAN is the global hub and center of excellence in terms of trade and investment, innovation, Research and Development (R&D).
I think that there are a lot of opportunities that have yet to be explored by both parties. When we do activities connecting industries between countries, we can see that the understanding about Malaysia and the Malaysian understanding about France is increasing.
We can see new segments within the conventional areas of partnerships that we have established.
Malaysia is known for the electrical and electronics industry. But we are moving to the upstream. We’re at the backend, but we play a very critical role in the electrical and electronics (E&E) industry for the world.
Our electrical and electronics history spans 50 years. We have the capabilities and ecosystem to support various industries, like automotive, aerospace, pharmaceutical, and even halal.
Right now, we’re seeing a growing interest in halal from the French counterparts.
Malaysia is the pioneer and champion of the Halal industry in the world. There are lots of countries that are reaching out to Malaysia to see how we can work together with Malaysia in terms of certification, in terms of supply chain management, technology, even the manufacturing practices, and also the retail and PR initiatives as well.
TER: What are the vision, mission, and goals of MATRADE?
Sedek: We aspire to position Malaysia as the ideal trade hub for the world. We also want to position our companies to expand their global footprints around the world so that we can have more representation of Malaysian capabilities around the world. International trading isn’t only buying and selling, it’s also about creating long-lasting friendships, as well as building trust, because this is very important when you want to do long-term business. So it’s all about cooperation and human connection.
Malaysians are very hospitable. We are very open-minded, we are very progressive, and we like to facilitate things. So I think this is the recipe for building a lasting friendship.
TER: What are the major economic opportunities and industries that drive trade and investment between Malaysia and its European allies? What is MATRADE doing to boost trade and investments?
Sedek: As I said earlier, we are very strong in electronics and the electrical industry. We are also very strong in chemical and palm oil-based products, including palm oil-based manufactured goods.
We are also strong in services such as construction services, aerospace, for example, MRO, and even design engineering.
Moving forward, we would like to boost trade in services because this is the future of trade. With the rise of AI and various technologies being introduced in Europe, there’s a need to outsource a lot of capabilities, as the demand may not match the capacity.
Malaysia wants to work with our European allies in high-value segments. We used to be in the backend, but European companies are known for their R&D and design capabilities. We want to match the ecosystem between Malaysia and our European counterparts. If we match the ecosystem, I think we can do wonders by creating more innovation and making the world a better place.
TER: How would you describe the bilateral relations between Malaysia and its European allies? Is it mainly focused on foreign aid or transactional, deal-based diplomacy?
Sedek: Our relationship is very much dependent on business, especially external trade and foreign direct investment.
The European Union is always among the top five of our main trading partners.
In 2024, we traded about 44 billion euros with the EU.
Malaysia’s trade performance with the EU stood at 44.3 billion euros, up by 5.6% in 2024. We sold 23.43 billion euros worth of products to the EU last year. We also imported 20.86 billion euros worth of products from the EU.
The top products are electronics and electrical, palm oil-based manufactured products, palm oil and palm oil-based agricultural products, optical and scientific equipment, machinery, and equipment parts as well.
The EU is our top trading partner, and France is in the top 10. Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Poland are among our top trading partners in the EU.
Our total trade with the world last year stood at 582.72 billion euros, up by 9%.
Our top export market is ASEAN. We do lots of trade with ASEAN countries such as the United States, China, the EU, Hong Kong, etc.. They are our key trading partners. But the EU is a very important trading partner.
In terms of investment, I can quote France. We have about 660 French companies doing business in Malaysia. They are involved in high-value segments in electronics and electrical, automotive, renewable energy, etc.
We have companies like TotalEnergies and Technip in Malaysia.
For pharmaceuticals, we have Sanofi, and a lot of big multinationals, not only from France, but also from German and Swedish companies, are present in Malaysia.
TER: How attractive is the tax rate in Malaysia?
Sedek: We have a committee in Malaysia, supervised by the Prime Minister. In the Prime Minister’s office, we have the Ministry of Investment and Trade Industry.
We also have the central bank and a couple of other ministries that will evaluate the application of investments. We also have a sister agency, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, which oversees the promotion of investment. They give incentives depending on what you intend to do in Malaysia in terms of business and investment, such as manufacturing sites or business operations.
For example, at the 2025 Paris Airshow, our Prime Minister visited France, and it was very successful.
We generated about 4 billion euros of investment potential and close to 700 million euros in trade and export potential.
We have Airbus in Malaysia. Malaysia has a lot of agenda to boost our aerospace industry. We are number one in Southeast Asia. We have the ecosystem in terms of talent. We also have supporting materials. When you want to do manufacturing, you need supplies of products and services. We have that ecosystem.
We have the manpower, and the ease of doing business in Malaysia is very good.
For tax incentives, it depends on the period of your investment and the activities you want to do in Malaysia.
For example, if Airbus is developing its manufacturing plant and plans to expand it in Malaysia. They will need SMEs in their supply chain. They would also get more incentives based on the value they bring in technology and knowledge transfer. These are the things that the Malaysian government is paying attention to because we need to develop our readiness for the future.
TER: What is the role of the energy sector in MATRADE’s deliverables? How is the energy sector reshaping trade and investment for Malaysia?
Sedek: We have multiple progressive and forward-looking policies developed by the Malaysian government. The Malaysian government is governed by a concept called the MADANI concept.
The MADANI concept looks into progressive innovation, sustainability, and inclusivity and takes into account progress and growth, without leaving any good element behind.
When we talk about sustainability, the energy transition is critical. Now, the requirements by the EU in their sustainability due diligence act makes sure their whole supply chain is sustainable. One of the areas would be making sure that the source of energy is from green energy. And a lot of our investors require the source of green energy.
Malaysia has ample sources of green energy.
Recently, Malaysian government introduced a policy called the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR). NETR provides a guideline on the changes that Malaysia has to undergo in its energy transition.
We want to achieve net-zero by 2050 to reduce our carbon emissions. It requires changes throughout industry activities within our supply chain.
The Malaysian government is looking very seriously into this. We’re looking into the source of clean energy. We have hydro, biomass, solar, and hydrogen.
We have a state called Sarawak in Borneo that is championing the hydrogen transition. We are also looking into the sustainable aviation fuel. Our palm-based biofuel can contribute a lot to many industries.
We have the EU regulation regarding palm-based biofuel, which isn’t permitted for the transportation industry. But this is quite a waste, as there are lots of benefits to be gained from the palm industry. Of course, there were a lot of issues, but Malaysia is at the forefront of addressing them. We have addressed many issues, and a lot of things have been improved to meet the global standard.
If there’s any industry in Malaysia that is very advanced in sustainability, it would be the palm oil industry. So I think the understanding of our palm industry is still very low among our European counterparts. That’s why we encourage dialogue as well as encourage our European partners to discuss with us so that they can understand more about the industry, so they can see the gaps that we have been able to address and what future potential they should capitalize in our palm oil and biofuels industry.
TER: Notably, Malaysia has secured a major economic boost with France committing RM4 billion (approximately €800 million) to accelerate the country’s renewable energy and technology sectors. What is the multiplier effect for this partnership between the two countries?
Sedek: There’ll be a lot of positive impact from this partnership. You will see a great transition among the industry players. And the most important thing is that it will not only affect the big boys, but it will also benefit the SMEs who are the backbone of the economy.
The big companies have more resources to make the transition right. The biggest challenge faced by SMEs is that the transition is costly and time-consuming.
Readiness in talent is another issue. But when there’s a lot of investment in providing more resources for the energy transition and it will create a lot of positive impact. It will create more resilient industries and more globally ready SMEs, meaning they can partner with anyone.
For SME companies, I think a lot of people don’t realize that they are more agile. They can maneuver and navigate faster than a bigger company. Although the bigger companies have more resources. But the smaller companies have the energy to move things faster. So this investment will definitely benefit both big and small companies.
TER: What is MATRADE doing in Africa?
Sedek: Africa is an important market for Malaysia. It’s one of our fastest-growing markets for trade. We have an office in Johannesburg and Lagos.
We want to do a lot more with our African counterparts. For example, the North African markets are very much related to France. MATRADE is doing a lot of strategic partnerships with North Africa through the North African businesses, who also have connections with France. There are multiple access values there.
Africa is a very important market for us. We want to grow industries in agriculture, especially in food security, services, and construction, as there is a lot of infrastructure development required in the African region.
This is something that Malaysia can help with.
We have a very good architecture firm. We have a lot of ecosystem players that can support the building of any development.
We have a couple of case studies that we are currently working on with some African governments. We have even come up with feasibility studies to see how they can help build the infrastructure to ensure development in Africa is moving faster.
TER: What is MATRADE planning for 2025 and beyond?
Sedek: We want to diversify our markets. We want to look into new greenfield markets within Africa. Africa is a big market. We want to expand and see which specific market needs support.
We want to diversify our markets and find new partners. We want to identify new ways of doing things to boost trade, not only in products, but also in services.
To do this, MATRADE needs support from our global partners. That’s why we will continue to ramp up our programs around the world, not only through trade promotion activities, but also, you know, through knowledge sharing, thought leadership, so that people can be really connected with Malaysia.
With our global network, we have the capabilities to do so.
Moving forward, MATRADE wants to urge our European counterparts and African counterparts to come work with the South Asian region through Malaysia.
Malaysia should be the ideal gateway because we have a balanced ecosystem, good people, and certainty in policies. These criteria would be very attractive for global partners to work with Malaysia.