RCEP To Be Malaysia Next Trading Platform

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 (Bernama) -- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is going to be the next trading platform for Malaysia and the other nine Asean countries, opening new markets for over three billion people, said Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (MATRADE). Its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dzulkifli Mahmud, said since the withdrawal of the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), the China-led RCEP would be an alternative for Malaysia to boost its trade. "RCEP can help local companies expand their businesses in the region after US President Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal from the trade pact," he told reporters after a media luncheon here Wednesday. Dzulkifli, who would be leaving MATRADE this Friday, said Malaysia was lucky as it did not rely on one trade agreement to spur the economy and it has other options, including the RCEP and the Asean Economic Community. "Malaysia will also pursue its free trade agreements (FTAs) with our trading partners and to further sign new agreements ... we are looking at Iran and Sri Lanka," he said. RCEP is a proposed FTA among the ten Asean countries, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and the six states that Asean has existing FTAs, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. The negotiations of RCEP were launched at Asean Summit in November 2012. The prospective RCEP member states accounted for a population of 3.4 billion people with a total gross domestic product of US21.4 trillion (US$1 = RM4.43), approximately 30 per cent of the world's GDP. Meanwhile, Dzulkifli said, MATRADE, the national trade promotion agency expected the country's exports to grow by between one and two per cent this year. He said at this moment the number was still acceptable as the economic growth of Malaysia's trading partners were also weakening. Dzulkifli was MATRADE CEO on June 15, 2015, following the retirement of Dr Wong Lai Sum. He has been with the public service for 34 years and spent about 21 years at the government agency. --BERNAMA