South-South Cooperation: A Case Study of Contemporary Sudanese-Malaysian Relations

Abstract

South-South cooperation is an approach to international economic
and political relations among developing countries to enhance development
prospects; it has been increasing in significance. Such a strategy was adopted
bilaterally at the outset between Malaysia and Sudan but eventually evolved
to include a broader network of Asian and African Countries. This paper is
focused on Malaysia-Sudan relations as a case study. It adopts a qualitative
approach comprising reliance on primary and secondary sources of data to study
the relations of exchange between the two countries. Findings lend support
to claims of potential rewards in South-South Cooperation. Through it Sudan
managed to exploit its idle oil reserves and achieve high rates of economic
growth. Similarly, Malaysia achieved very good results in areas of trade and
investment and managed to open up business opportunities in other African
countries. Sudan was also able to build productive cooperation with a number
of Asian countries. All countries involved benefited from the cooperation.