TPP Provides Tremendous Opportunities For M'sian SMEs, Says US Official

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 (Bernama) -- The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will provide tremendous opportunities for Malaysian SMEs to access a much larger market, a US official said on Monday. "The US alone has 330 million population," said Francisco J. Sanchez (picture), US Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade. This would add on to Asean's 600 million people, he told a press roundtable here in conjunction with his one-day visit to Malaysia. The TPP is an FTA initiative involving nine countries -- Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam. At the just ended 12th round of TPP negotiations in Texas, the nine member countries closed discussion on SMEs, a new feature in a US free trade agreement intended to support the integration into global trade of SMEs. SMEs account for two-thirds of job creation in the US. "One of the things that I tell the SMEs in the US is they can no longer rely on the US market for success. About 95 per cent of the world consumers live outside the border of the US. "And for Malaysia obviously the number is even higher," Sanchez said. In his meeting with International Trade and Industry Ministry Secretary-General Dr Rebecca Sta Maria earlier, the future of SMEs under the TPP was discussed. (photoBERNAMA) MALAYSIA