Malaysian Minister Mustapa To Join TPP Ministers' Meeting In Atlanta

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed will join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministers' Meeting from Wednesday to Oct 1 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. In a statement here, he said his attendance was not to sign the agreement as the final decision would be made by the Parliament. "I'm not going to Atlanta to sign the agreement but to ensure the country's interest are safeguarded in this negotiation. "It would be signed if the people and Malaysian Parliament are satisfied that the TPP generally provides benefits to Malaysia," he said. Mustapa said Malaysia's stand in the TPP was based on the country's Constitution, important policies such as Bumiputera (the Malay race) and small and medium enterprises as well as the rights and interests of the state governments. If the negotiations in Atlanta achieved progress and Malaysia's interests were protected, the agreement text would be disseminated to the public about one month later, he said. "The government is aware that the TPP has costs and benefits. This is why a cost-benefit analysis is done and it will be tabled in Parliament for debate. He urged all Malaysians to keep an open mind on this matter. The cost-benefit analysis undertaken by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) also will be updated based on the agreement that has been achieved. "The outcome of the analysis will be disclosed to the public. At this moment, it is not ready yet as the negotiations are still ongoing," said Mustapa. He said the TPP agreement draft and analysis would be tabled to the rakyat (people) and debated in the Malaysian Parliament. "The Parliament will decide whether to sign the agreement or not," he said. The meeting in Atlanta will be the second meeting this year among the ministers of the countries involved. The TPP negotiations has been going on for five years and the Atlanta meeting is to continue negotiations on outstanding issues. The TPP is a trade agreement involving 12 countries and Malaysia is involved in the negotiations as trade and investment are important in the country's economy, according to the statement. -- BERNAMA