These bilateral trade and investment agreements were designed as building blocks for a future agreement between the regions. In total, in 2019, 66.7% of Malaysia`s total trade, or RM 1.22 trillion, was spent on trade with countries covered by regional and bilateral free trade agreements. Exports to free trade countries amounted to $672.1 billion.RM while imports amounted to $551.5 billion.RM. Regarding the signing of the RCEP agreement following eight years of negotiations as a major achievement, he said: “These comprehensive free trade agreements have negative and positive aspects. The abolition of tariffs gives the countries of the agreement the free movement of trade products. Mydin stressed that the free trade agreement could lead to a risk of foreign dependence on countries with lower production capacity. In the first nine months of 2020, trade with ESTV partners amounted to 66.5% and 860.6 billion .RM, respectively. Exports amounted to $483.29 billion.RM while imports amounted to $377.31 billion.RM. Malaysia has already signed and implemented seven bilateral free trade agreements with Japan, Pakistan, India, New Zealand, Chile, Australia and Turkey. At the ASEAN level, Malaysia has 6 regional free trade agreements with ASEAN (AFTA), China, Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and India.

Malaysia signed 16 free trade agreements and implemented 14 free trade agreements (7 bilateral free trade agreements and 7 regional free trade agreements). A free trade agreement is an international agreement between two or more countries to reduce or remove trade barriers and achieve closer economic integration. “ASEAN will maintain its pragmatic approach to regional interests and remain neutral in the face of superpower rivalry.” Although free trade negotiations between the EU and Malaysia have been frozen, a Sustainable Impact Assessment (AIS) has been launched to support free trade negotiations between the two partners. The ASA will assess the potential impact of the trade and trade provisions of the proposed free trade agreement on the economic, social, human rights and environmental aspects in each trading partner and in other countries concerned. Ensuring better access for EU exporters to the dynamic ASEAN market is an EU priority. Negotiations for a trade and investment agreement between the region and ASEAN began in 2007 and were interrupted by mutual agreement in 2009 to relax a bilateral negotiating format. “It also allows consumers to obtain imported products at a lower cost. But the agreement allows local producers to expect damages as long as they do not participate in this competition. That is why India withdrew from the RCEP negotiations. “Take Malaysia as an example. Malaysia has not reached a competitive level in agricultural production. Our food imports are very high. The fact that some countries stopped exporting food to Malaysia during the COVID 19 period has left Malaysia in a very difficult situation,” he said.

Latest Update 2020-11-27 13:13:45 by Azuna Hasbullah atau Abd Rahman “We cannot know, whether China`s occupation of the space that the United States is leaving will lead to economic domination or hegemony, but China will take advantage of the RCEP`s advantages to strengthen its claims of dominance over the South China Sea and its ideal Belt and Road Initiative” Hamid said. How do I know if my product is eligible for tariff concessions? Ahamed Kameel Mydin Meera, president of the Movement for Monetary Justice, told Anadolu news agency that the ASEAN summit had yielded effective results despite the restrictive conditions due to the new coronavirus pandemic.