Malaysia & EU To Resume Negotiations On FTA

KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and the European Union (EU) will resume technical negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement beginning May. Several meetings were postponed earlier to pave the way for Malaysia to be fully engaged with the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, said Ambassador and Head of EU Delegation Luc Vandebon. "At that time, Malaysia was in the midst of obtaining a new political mandate to continue with negotiations. "It was postponed a few times as Malaysia was fully engaged with the TPP and the EU FTA negotiations took a back seat," he told reporters after launching the EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EUMCCI) here Wednesday. EU is the second largest investor in Malaysia and third largest trading partner with total trade amounting to US$38.73 billion (RM150 billion) last year, said Vandebon. Earlier, Ministry of International Trade and Industry Secretary-General Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria said Malaysia learnt a lot of lessons from the TPP negotiations which could be used in negotiating the EU FTA. She said one important thing that a government has to listen to is the voice of the civil society when it resumes negotiations again. Meanwhile, EUMCCI Chairman Fermin Fautsch said over 2,000 European companies are operating in Malaysia and 11,000 companies in ASEAN. "We work with both governments on most compelling issues businesses are facing as it is important that both parties move forward with the negotiations," he said. Fautsch hoped Malaysia would not fall behind as the EU was continuing its negotiations with other ASEAN counterparts. "EU is still the largest trading block in the world and notwithstanding the TPPA it is important for Malaysia to give priority to the EU FTA," he added. -- BERNAMA