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PUTRAJAYA: The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will make Malaysia part of the ASEAN superpower trading bloc with a combined population of 650 million, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said.
The Minister of Industry and International Trade said that, as exciting as the free trade agreement (FTA) offers are, Malaysia will not rush to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) unless it ensures that businesses and national industries will be protected.
RCEP, when signed today at the 37th Asean Summit hosted virtually and hosted by Vietnam, will become the world’s largest FTA, involving 10 Asean countries and their partners Australia, China, Japan, Korea South and New Zealand.
“After eight years of talk and more talk, it is finally happening.
“Regionalism is the way to go. Currently, Malaysia has 14 signed FTAs, seven bilateral and seven regional.
“RCEP will merge regional FTAs into one to facilitate trade and investment between members.
“When we sign the RCEP, Malaysia will enjoy preferential rates among the 15 countries, greater market access and better elimination of tariffs among RCEP members,” Azmin said in an exclusive interview on Friday.
India, however, will stay out of RCEP for now.
Azmin also said that the leadership change in the United States will not directly affect the RCEP. “RCEP is driven by ASEAN member states and not superpowers like the United States and other larger economies.
“With the presence of Japan, China and Korea, we could offer the largest FTA in the world because they contribute a third of the world economy and cover a population of 3.8 billion.
“RCEP also gives local players room to grow as the market in Malaysia is too small to expand. With RCEP, local players can participate and penetrate the global market, ”said Azmin.
On CPTPP, which includes superpowers and some ASEAN countries, Azmin said that the Perikatan Nasional Cabinet will be cautious.
“The CPTPP has been signed but not ratified. Pakatan Harapan’s Cabinet agreed to ratify, but no timetable was given.
Malaysia is a small economy. We want to ensure that CPTPP provides a fair playing field for our domestic industries, Investor-State Dispute Resolutions (ISDS), Government Procurement, etc., which we could do under RCEP but not under CPTPP.
“Our focus is on Covid-19 and the economy. One of the main outcomes of this summit is to support Asean’s Comprehensive Recovery Framework 2, our collective response to Covid-19, to intensify trade within Asean and accelerate our program of transformation into a digital economy, which has been so important during the pandemic. ”Azmin said.
On the issue of the South China Sea, in which the United States and China clashed, Azmin said ASEAN leaders will refer to the foundations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), where the rights at sea must be within the areas. measured from the ground.
“We will speak as a collective voice on this to bring free access and security to merchants. The presence of warships is not conducive and any miscalculation could increase tension in the region, ”said Azmin.
He added that a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea is being prepared, and ASEAN will resolve it peacefully.
China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei have all had overlapping territorial claims over one of the world’s busiest commercial waterways, but the recent US entry into the dispute has increased tensions.
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