FTA With M’sia Will Benefit American Companies, Says US Diplomat
Bernama, Malaysia
FTA With M’sia Will Benefit American Companies, Says US Diplomat
3 July 2006
KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) — A US-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will provide a strategic foothold for US companies in Malaysia’s growing high technology, telecommunications and financial services sectors, says a US diplomat.
Malaysia is already a critical link in the supply chain of many of America’s most competitive companies, said US Ambassador to Malaysia, Christopher J LaFleur, in his address in the 2006 Business Advisor Malaysia booklet.
The Business Advisor Malaysia, which provides critical information to US companies on Malaysia’s business, economic and political issues, is a joint publication between the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial Service of the US Department of Commerce.
LaFleur said the time has never been more better than now to consider Malaysia as a key market for US companies’ products.
The country has much to offer, he said.
Although American firms have been active in Malaysia for decades, the announcement of a FTA will allow new companies to still get in on the ground floor of Malaysia’s rapidly evolving economy, he said.
"This agreement, if finalised by June 2007, would be a watershed moment in our growing trade relations and dramatically impact the way our two countries do business with each other," he said.
The FTA will allow US companies to increase their efficiency, diversify their production base in East Asia, and lower their costs to compete more effectively in Asia and other markets, providing them with a gateway to the vibrant ASEAN region - a market approaching US$3 trillion, LaFleur said.
He said new export opportunities for US companies will result from reducing or eliminating Malaysia’s applied tariffs, which are twice as high on average as US applied tariffs.
He also said by eliminating tariffs and other restrictions on agriculture products, an FTA will expand the US access to Malaysia’s US$400 million agricultural market.
