Business Times, Malaysia

Industry players hold key to US-Malaysia FTA success: Rafidah

By Kamarul Yunus

15 August 2006

Industry players, not the Government, hold the key to the successful conclusion of the proposed US-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said.

"Our primary test is if the market (industry players) are for it (the FTA) and if they are agreeable to everything.

"We are talking about opening up the market for the industry, whether services or goods. Thus, we must remember because the industry is the one that tells us (Government) what we need to do," she told reporters after launching the four-day forum on international trade in professional services in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economies in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

There have been criticisms that Malaysia could lose out in FTAs, especially with the US and Japan.

Dismissing such suggestions, Rafidah said there should not be any complaints if industry players are satisfied. "It is the industry players that matters, not the critics who are on the sidelines.

"Why complain when players that matters welcome it and say FTA is the best thing for them," she said.

Rafidah said she hoped that all quarters put a stop to all unnecessary concerns on the FTAs as she claimed that negotiations are based on cost of benefits.

"There is a lot more to gain and derive from the FTA," she said.

For instance, she said, the FTA with Japan has benefited Malaysia by opening up wider market access for Malaysian products. There will also be technical and economic cooperation that will enhance Malaysia’s domestic capacity.