Malaysia-US FTA likely after end of Bush administration - report
AFX News Limited | 13 November 2007
Malaysia-US FTA likely after end of Bush administration - report
KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) — A free trade agreement (FTA) between Malaysia and the United States is likely to be deferred until after November next year from the early 2008 target set previously as attention focuses on the upcoming US presidential election, the Edge Financial Daily reported on Wednesday.
’We are having an election in the US in 51 weeks and as we get closer all political attention in Washington will move away from the possibility of securing approval on the agreement in our Congress,’ the newspaper quoted US-ASEAN Business Council president Matthew Daley as saying.
Therefore, the FTA would likely be deferred until after the election, he said.
There was still a window of opportunity to have the agreement signed between April and September next year if both countries could come up with an agreement, Daley said.
FTA talks between Malaysia and the US began in early 2006, the newspaper said.
