Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Johari Ghani has announced a review of Malaysia’s 17 free trade agreements (FTAs) to ensure the deals are delivering stronger and more meaningful outcomes.
Johari said the FTAs include nine multilateral and regional agreements, as well as eight bilateral pacts, including one with Turkey. He noted that the government wants to assess how much Malaysia has actually benefited in terms of trade and investment.
“We need to ask why investment or trade has not flowed as expected despite these FTAs,” he said, adding that discussions with the business community are crucial to better understand the challenges on the ground.
Turkey will be the first country involved in the review, followed by other FTA partner nations.
Johari also stressed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must gain more direct benefits from FTAs, instead of the advantages being limited to large corporations and foreign investors. He said the government aims to ensure FTAs lead to better market access for local businesses.
While Malaysia continues to welcome multinational companies and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, Johari said the country’s long-term strength lies in developing SMEs and helping them expand into FTA markets.
He added that Malaysia’s trade agreements with the United States could also be reviewed and renegotiated if any terms are found to be unfair.
