Malaysia not bound to finalise FTA with US by 2007
May 11, 2006
Malaysia Not Bound To Finalise FTA With US By 2007
From Saraswathi Muniappan
IRVINE (California), May 11 (Bernama) — Malaysia is not bound to finalise the free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States by 2007, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said Thursday.
"An FTA needs to benefit both countries and not subject to deadlines," she said, pointing out that there were some sensitive areas for both countries to look into.
Talks on the Malaysia-US FTA were launched in March this year, and negotiations are expected to start next month and due to be completed in 2007.
Rafidah cited the financial sector as one area that Malaysia cannot open up at a faster pace as the country has its own timeframe with the implementation of the Financial Services Blueprint and Capital Market Masterplan.
She said this when asked about the Malaysia-US FTA and the limited timeframe that both countries have in completing the pact during a question-and-answer session at the "Business Opportunities in Malaysia" seminar which was held in conjunction with the trade and investment mission led by her.
Rafidah noted that it was the US and not Malaysia which made the approach on the FTA.
"It will be good if there is a spirit of understanding. We have to agree to disagree. So, it does not matter if it’s July or November, if it can’t be done, it can’t be done. We are not bound by the 2007 deadline," she said.
However, she hoped that the negotiators would handle the issues arising in a pragmatic way.
The 49-member mission comprised representatives from the private sector, her ministry, Malaysian Industrial Development Authority, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation, state governments of Penang, Perak, Kedah, Sabah and Selangor, and Multimedia Development Corp Malaysia.
The mission aimed to inform the US business communities about trade and investment opportunities, update them on Malaysia’s economic situation and woo investors, mainly to explore joint ventures and technical tie-ups.
Malaysia and the US have close bilateral economic ties with the US being Malaysia’s largest trading partner in 2005, accounting for 16.8 percent of Malaysia’s global trade.
For the US, Malaysia was its 11th largest import source and 18th largest export market.
Malaysia was the 10th largest trading partner for the US last year.
Irvine, Orange County, California, marked the last leg of an eight-day mission that started on May 3 and similar seminars were held earlier in Toronto, Canada, and San Francisco, US.
— BERNAMA
