KUALA LUMPUR (March 8): Senior Minister and Minister for International Trade and Industry (MITI) Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali (pictured) said Malaysia aims to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) by the third quarter of 2022.
“We are working very hard to ratify the CPTPP as I mentioned in Parliament yesterday (March 7) during the question and answer session.
“I have shared with my colleagues in Parliament that [MITI] have concluded the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in February and I will be presenting a paper to the Cabinet to inform them about the findings of the CBA.
“Soon after that, we will share the findings to the public and the stakeholders so that they understand and appreciate the obligations by all of us including the industries and chambers of commerce on our participation in the CPTPP.
“We hope the whole process will be completed by the third quarter of 2022,” Azmin said.
The minister added that laws will need to be amended by the respective ministers and that they have been working closely with the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to ensure that Malaysia’s commitment to the CPTPP and domestic structure reform are fulfilled.
Azmin also highlighted that the government had held special sessions with state chief ministers across the country to ensure that the total approved investments received by the country could materialise and efforts to ratify the free trade agreement are coordinated.
“This is one of the issues that we raised to the chief ministers to get their support to facilitate the approval at the state and local level to expedite the licensing and building permits so that we can realise the investments that we have approved.
“MIDA’s (Malaysian Investment Development Authority) PACU (project acceleration and coordination unit) will also be monitoring the progress of the approved projects within a certain period of time, which needs to be supported and facilitated not only at a federal level but at the state and local level,” Azmin said.
On Monday (March 7), Azmin said in Parliament that MITI plans to hold engagement sessions with related stakeholders to share the findings of the CBA to ensure all stakeholders understand Malaysia’s rights and obligations under the CPTPP.
He added that nine out of 14 acts at the federal level related to the CPTPP had been tabled and approved in Parliament with five acts and ordinances namely, the Employment Act 1955, Trade Unions Act 1959, Labour Ordinance (Sabah Chapter 67), Labour Ordinance (Sarawak Chapter 76), and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 expected to be tabled in Parliament for amendment soon.