MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Mustapa: FTA Talks with EU to Resume
Mustapa: FTA Talks with EU to Resume
18/10/2014 (New Straits Times) - The Malaysia-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks, which have been put on the back burner for the past two years, will be rekindled soon, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
Discussions will resume early next year, although no date has been fixed, he disclosed.
The chief negotiators held a meeting to “stock take” the progress made so far and find ways to move the negotiations forward.
“The EU represents a significant market for us as it provides a viable access to penetrate the strategic
eurozone — an important source of foreign direct investment and transfer of knowledge and technology,” Mustapa said in an interview with Business Times.
Malaysia remains committed to the talks and hopes that the EU will also show some flexibility.
Mustapa, who is leading a trade and investment team to several European cities this week, said eight rounds of negotiations had been held since negotiations started in 2010.
The chief negotiators will firm up a date to set the negotiations in motion again.
It is understood that the chapters on trade remedies and mutual administrative arrangement are close to conclusion, while the technical aspects in the sanitary and phyto sanitary and technical barriers to trade have also advanced.
Just like the ongoing Trans Pacific Partnership talks, market access for goods and services remains a challenging area.
Non-trade barriers involving government procurement, intellectual property rights, competition and sustainable development for both environment and labour are also areas that have been identified as requiring EU flexibility.
Since Malaysia moved out from the Generalised Scheme of Preferences in early January, it had impacted exports of, among others, electrical and electronic products, palm oil and optical and scientific equipment.
A European firm in Johor had complained that the six per cent duty had affected its exports.
Mustapa said Malaysia’s trade with the EU jumped by 6.3 per cent last year to €32.4 billion (RM136
billion), with exports at €15.6 billion and imports at €16.8 billion.
Electrical and electronic products were the mainstay of Malaysia’s exports profile at 48 per cent, followed by palm oil (8.5 per cent).
He described the performance in the first seven months of this year as encouraging, with €18.29 billion in total trade, led by a 15.9 per cent growth in exports of €9.3 billion.
The Dusseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce is also hoping that the FTA talks will resume soon.
It has urged the Malaysian government to continue the process of opening its markets.
Chamber deputy managing director Dr Gerhard Eschenbaum said more needed to be done to liberalise the automotive and services sectors.
Discussions will resume early next year, although no date has been fixed, he disclosed.
The chief negotiators held a meeting to “stock take” the progress made so far and find ways to move the negotiations forward.
“The EU represents a significant market for us as it provides a viable access to penetrate the strategic
eurozone — an important source of foreign direct investment and transfer of knowledge and technology,” Mustapa said in an interview with Business Times.
Malaysia remains committed to the talks and hopes that the EU will also show some flexibility.
Mustapa, who is leading a trade and investment team to several European cities this week, said eight rounds of negotiations had been held since negotiations started in 2010.
The chief negotiators will firm up a date to set the negotiations in motion again.
It is understood that the chapters on trade remedies and mutual administrative arrangement are close to conclusion, while the technical aspects in the sanitary and phyto sanitary and technical barriers to trade have also advanced.
Just like the ongoing Trans Pacific Partnership talks, market access for goods and services remains a challenging area.
Non-trade barriers involving government procurement, intellectual property rights, competition and sustainable development for both environment and labour are also areas that have been identified as requiring EU flexibility.
Since Malaysia moved out from the Generalised Scheme of Preferences in early January, it had impacted exports of, among others, electrical and electronic products, palm oil and optical and scientific equipment.
A European firm in Johor had complained that the six per cent duty had affected its exports.
Mustapa said Malaysia’s trade with the EU jumped by 6.3 per cent last year to €32.4 billion (RM136
billion), with exports at €15.6 billion and imports at €16.8 billion.
Electrical and electronic products were the mainstay of Malaysia’s exports profile at 48 per cent, followed by palm oil (8.5 per cent).
He described the performance in the first seven months of this year as encouraging, with €18.29 billion in total trade, led by a 15.9 per cent growth in exports of €9.3 billion.
The Dusseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce is also hoping that the FTA talks will resume soon.
It has urged the Malaysian government to continue the process of opening its markets.
Chamber deputy managing director Dr Gerhard Eschenbaum said more needed to be done to liberalise the automotive and services sectors.