Robust outlook conducive for US-Malaysia FTA talks
Business Times, Kuala Lumpur
Robust outlook conducive for US-Malaysia FTA talks
By RUPA DAMODARAN
December 15 2005
THE development of a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) between the US and Malaysia will provide new opportunities for American companies to expand trade and investment with their partners in Malaysia.
“Moreover, the negotiations and approval of an FTA agreement would focus the attention of the Malaysian and American public on the opportunities created by one of the most productive economic partnerships in the world,” General Electric Co vice-president Michael Gadbaw said in a statement.
Gadbaw was part of a 18-member mission of the US-Asean (Association of South-East Asian Nations) Business Council that visited Malaysia recently.
From the US-Asean Business Council’s perspective, the current robust economic outlook for the US and Malaysia is conducive for a successful negotiation of an FTA, he said.
“The dialogues and discussions we had with the Malaysian leaders over the past few days were most insightful for us in understanding the macroeconomic situation in the country, the key priorities and focus in the coming year,” Gadbaw said.
The firms represented on the mission consisted of a broad cross-section of industries. They were General Electric, Oracle Corp, AIG, The Boeing Co, ConocoPhillips, Ford Motor Co, Guardian Industries, Microsoft, Unisys and United Parcel Service.
The delegation came to Malaysia to hold discussions with public and private sector leaders on a range of trade and investment issues.
A key objective of the mission was to encourage the start of bilateral FTA talks.
“The continued success of the US-Malaysian bilateral economic relationship as evidenced by what we saw is a testimony to what both nations can achieve when enabling policy environments encourage American and Malaysian companies to maximise the value of their deployed human and physical assets,” said Gadbaw.
“The council looks forward to working with a broad range of Malaysian counterparts to encourage our respective governments to begin such negotiations early in 2006”, said council president Matthew Daley.
