SME Industry Will Not Be Affected If TPP Deal Falls Through

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 (Bernama) -- The possibility of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement falling through will not affect the small and medium enterprise (SMEs) industry in doing business worldwide. SME Corp Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Dr Hafsah Hashim said there are many ways of conducting international business, other than via the TPP, such as bilateral and free trade agreements (FTAs). "In fact, if they (SMEs) are getting ready for the TPP, they must also be prepared for anything else coming their way namely FTAs or any type of international bilateral agreement," she told reporters at the FMM SME Conference 2016 here Wednesday. Meanwhile, Second International Trade and Industry Minister Ong Ka Chuan said the possible withdrawal of the TPP agreement 'would not be the end of the world' for the Malaysian economy as the government would provide other options for bilateral trade. "It will be a slight setback if the deal falls through but the good thing is that we have done a lot of preparation to counter the matter and strengthen our industry," he said. He said Malaysia had negotiated 625 FTAs globally with over 400 agreements sealed while remaining negotiations were expected to be concluded soon. "As for the TPP, if it is cancelled, it will not affect the SME industry negatively as the agreement was yet to be implemented. "However, the United States is a very big market and it will be very good for our economy if they can open up for us to go in and invest," he said. Ong said if the trade pact does not take off, Malaysia should shift its focus to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiation, expected to be concluded by year-end. The RCEP includes the ASEAN-10 in addition to China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. -- BERNAMA