US Malaysia FTA may falter

In my feature article published in Malaysiakini ” is an open economy good?”, I mentioned that an FTA would be good 

“Another advantage for opening up is that there would be an increase of FDI. Mexico is an example. The FDI into Mexico increased three times after the signing of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). Singapore and Australia too experienced an increase in FDI after their FTA with the US. Any increase in FDI would be welcomed here because it could jumpstart our economy again.”

I have high hopes that a FTA with US may help to open up certain restricted areas and results in more transparency in doing business and awarding tenders. As I have stated in my article then,  an FTA may help to correct some of the anomalies caused by the implementation of the NEP.

It is actually one of the ways to make our country more competitive in the globalised world.

However, a news report today mentioned that the FTA may have faltered over the opening up of services and government tenders . I urge  our decision makers to be more far sighted and use this as a window of opportunity to correct certain abuses over the tender award process.

I will post  the news report (from IHT) below and the other from ABC news as a link: 

ABC News: U.S. says free-trade failure bad for U.S., Malaysia

From IHT:

US official: Free trade pact with Malaysia may flop if no firm progress in talks next week  

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia 31st January:

A proposed Malaysia-U.S. free trade pact may falter if negotiators fail to make firm progress in bridging differences at a fifth round of talks next week, a U.S. official warned on Wednesday.

Negotiators will meet again for a week starting Monday in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Borneo island, where they will seek a compromise over opening up of Malaysia’s services and government contracts — two key hurdles to a deal — said Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Karan Bhatia.