AUSTRALIA - MALAYSIA RELATIONS The Federation of Malaya was established on 31 August 1957 .  On 16 September 1963 the Federation was enlarged by the accession of the states of Singapore, Sabah (formerly British North Borneo) and Sarawak.  The name `Malaysia' was adopted from that date .  Singapore left the Federation on 9 August 1965 . Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy . The Head of State is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) .   The Head of Government is the Prime Minister, who is also the head of the Cabinet . On 31 October 2003, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned after 22 years in office .   His successor, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, led the Barisan Nasional to electoral victory at the 21 March 2004 general election, winning 199 of the 219 Federal seats, representing the highest-ever proportion of seats won in Federal Parliament .   The largest number of opposition seats (12) was won by the secular Democratic Action Party (DAP) and it replaced Islam-oriented PAS, which won six seats, as the major opposition party .   Federal and state elections are held concurrently every five years, with the exception of state elections in East Malaysia which are sometimes held separately .  Prime Minster Abdullah called an early election to be held on 8 March 2008 . Malaysia's Foreign Policy The principles of national sovereignty and mutual respect for territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, and non-interference in domestic affairs of other countries are central tenets of Malaysia's foreign policy .   This is reflected in Malaysia's membership of the United Nations and prominent roles in organisations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) - which Malaysia has chaired since 2003, and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) - which Malaysia chaired from 2003 to 2006 . Malaysia sees ASEAN as the main regional institution developing an integrated South-East Asian community. Malaysia was one of ASEAN's five original members (founded in 1967), and was the Chair of ASEAN from 2005 to 2006 . Economic Overview Since independence in 1957, Malaysia has been transformed from a commodity-based economy, focusing on rubber and tin, to one of the world's largest producers of electronic and electrical products .   Malaysia is a significant trading nation as measured by trade as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), with its total trade in goods and services amounting to more than 200 per cent of GDP .  Manufactured goods make up a large portion of Malaysia's exports, including electronic and electrical products - which comprise over 40 per cent of the value of total exports .  Malaysia is the world's leading exporter of palm oil and is one of the region's major oil and gas exporters . According to key development indicators, Malaysia is now a high middle-income, export-oriented economy, with GDP per capita of $US5718 in 2006, life expectancy