Signing a Free Trade agreement is not necessarily bad. It depends on what the terms are.
And its not the first time that Malaysia has signed a free trade agreement.
We have had:
– ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the ATIGA
– Malaysia-EU FTA (MEUFTA)
– ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA)
– Malaysia-New Zealand FTA (MNZFTA)
– Australia Free Trade Agreement (MAFTA)
– ASEAN – China FTA
– ASEAN – Korea (AKFTA)
– Japan CEP (AJCEP)
– ASEAN – India FTA (AIFTA)
– Pakistan CEPA (MPCEPA)
– Malaysia – India CECA (MICECA)
– Malaysia-Japan EPA (MJEPA)
In any case, MITI minister Mustapa Mohamed have said that the recent Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations agreed to take into consideration almost all of Malaysia’s concerns and sensitivities such as government procurement, state-owned enterprises and Bumiputera issues. and that elements of flexibility accorded to Malaysia included longer transition periods and differential treatment for the country’s sensitive areas.
Also, once the complete and official text of the agreement is prepared, it will be released to the public and also presented to Parliament for debate.
Govt will also hold full consultations with interested parties and the public.
Therefore, if you want to panic, at least read the TPPA agreement first and know what you are going to be panicking about.
Don’t be like:
“TPPA is bad for us.”
“What in TPPA is bad for us? How?”
“I don’t know but TPPA will kill us and that is why FBI and CIA did not arrest Najib so that he can sign the TPPA”
“But Najib has not signed the TPPA yet coz parliament need to agree first,”
“I don’t care. TPPA will kill us. Tun M/Pakatan said so”.
The TPPA involves Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, United States and Vietnam.
