M'SIA SEES BILATERAL FTAs IMPORTANT, SAYS MINISTER

By minggu Simon Lhasa

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- Despite being a party to a number of
multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) through Asean, a 10-member regional
grouping, Malaysia regards bilateral agreements important.

Bilateral FTAs are important as they went beyond what has been agreed to
between Asean and third countries, said Minister of International Trade and
Industry Mustapa Mohamed told BERNAMA and RTM (Radio and Television Malaysia,
government owned broadcasting) in an interview.

Currently, Malaysia has bilateral FTAs with Japan, New Zealand and Pakistan
and was negotiating with Australia, Chile, India and the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) member countries.

While the FTA with Japan and Pakistan has been implemented, the one with New
Zealand is expected to come into force in June.

Being an Asean member, Malaysia is a signatory to five regional FTAs. They
are
with China, South Korea, Japan, India and Australia-New Zealand.


On the position of the Asean FTA, Mustapa said the fact that many countries
were keen to sign agreements with Asean indicated that the regional grouping,
with a 600 million population, was a "big, competitive and important market".

Also, Asean was a good model for political and economic cooperation, besides
playing a pivotal role in wooing foreign direct investments from diverse
sources.

"Although 2009 was a difficult year, we believe when the global economy
recovers this year, Asean will again become a very important investment
destination.

"Asean's competitiveness stems from the elimination of tariffs among member
states, resources available in the region and its ability (to compete with
others)," he added.

-- BERNAMA