Malaysia eyes China to push free trade as TPP falters

Xinhua, KUALA LUMPUR: As the new administration in the United States showing signs of turning inward, Malaysian officials and analysts said they hope China will play greater role in promoting free trade.
US President-elect Donald Trump this week unveiled his first 100-day plan in office, topped by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Malaysia is likely to wait until the US formally notifies the other parties that it does not intend to ratify the TPP, said Shahriman Lockman, a senior analyst at Malaysia’s Institute of Strategic and International Studies, even though it is clear now that the 12-nation trade pact “is pretty much dead.”
Malaysia has actively promoted TPP as it would provide the country with preferential access into four markets with which it currently does not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), namely the United States, Canada, Mexico and Peru. Oh Ei Sun, a Malaysian analyst at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said a TPP without US could still be viable in theory as it would account for more than one third of the global economy and trade volume.
But for Malaysia, a TPP without US is much less attractive, because Malaysia sees the agreement as another chance at securing a preferential trade arrangement with the world’s largest economy following the previous failure of negotiations for a bilateral FTA, Shahriman said.
What concerns Malaysia more is the anti-trade and anti-globalization sentiments looming in many parts of the world that would hamper trade growth, a bad news for trading nations like Malaysia.
With a population of around 30 million, Malaysia’s limited domestic market could not generate enough demand to sustain economic growth, said Ong Ka Chuan, Second Minister at Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Ministry.
“Even a big market like the US has to interact with China,” he said during a recent interview with Xinhua.

Malaysia eyes China to push free trade as TPP falters

Xinhua, KUALA LUMPUR: As the new administration in the United States showing signs of turning inward, Malaysian officials and analysts said they hope China will play greater role in promoting free trade. US President-elect Donald Trump this week unveiled his first 100-day plan in office, topped by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Malaysia is likely to wait until the US formally notifies the other parties that it does not intend to ratify the TPP, said Shahriman Lockman, a senior analyst at Malaysias Institute of Strategic and International Studies, even though it is clear now that the 12-nation trade pact is pretty much dead. Malaysia has actively promoted TPP as it would provide the country with preferential access into four markets with which it currently does not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), namely the United States, Canada, Mexico and Peru. Oh Ei Sun, a Malaysian analyst at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said a TPP without US could still be viable in theory as it would account for more than one third of the global economy and trade volume. But for Malaysia, a TPP without US is much less attractive, because Malaysia sees the agreement as another chance at securing a preferential trade arrangement with the worlds largest economy following the previous failure of negotiations for a bilateral FTA, Shahriman said. What concerns Malaysia more is the anti-trade and anti-globalization sentiments looming in many parts of the world that would hamper trade growth, a bad news for trading nations like Malaysia. With a population of around 30 million, Malaysias limited domestic market could not generate enough demand to sustain economic growth, said Ong Ka Chuan, Second Minister at Malaysias International Trade and Industry Ministry. Even a big market like the US has to interact with China, he said during a recent interview with Xinhua.