Malaysia May Be Affected If TPP Collapses - Minister Mustapa

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 (Bernama) -- Malaysia may be affected if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) were to be discontinued following Donald Trump's victory in Tuesday's US presidential election. A study conducted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) found that the TPP would help boost Malaysia's gross domestic product, revenue and job creation, its minister, Mustapa Mohamed said. He said another study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) projected that one million jobs would be created in the country within 10 years after the TPP's ratification, which was set for 2018. "If there is no TPPA (TPP Agreement), then those would not be generated," he told reporters after delivering a keynote address at the Australian Business Asia Conference organised by the Malaysia Australia Business Council (MABC), here Thursday. Mustapa said Malaysia remained committed to the agreement, and would discuss the trade pact at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Peru in two weeks' time. "For now, it's too early to say what will happen, but we are monitoring the development and we are talking to our colleagues from 11 other countries," he said. Twelve countries -- the US, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia -- concluded the TPP negotiations in Atlanta on Oct 5 last year and signed the trade deal in Auckland on Feb 4 this year. The TPP is a free-trade agreement that has been negotiated as part of the larger Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership since 2010. In his speech, Mustapa said Australian and Malaysian businessmen should explore doing business together and penetrate into third world countries. "Malaysia has a big presence in Australia and they are also an important investor here like LendLease, the biggest developer in Australia. "Their presence here reflect their confidence in the Malaysian economy and we hope this will open the doors for more Aussie companies to Malaysia," said Mustapa. In 2015, total trade and investments between Australia and Malaysia stood at A$16 billion (A$1=US$0.76). -- BERNAMA