The Malaysian Consortium of Mid-Tier Companies (MCMTC) said it welcomes the ratification of the long-awaited Comprehensive & Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) which was recently concluded with Malaysia becoming the 11 nation to join the trade bloc.
TIn supporting the Trade Ministries move, MCMTC is on the view that trade is the growth catalyst for the Malaysian economy. “We are a relatively small country in terms of population and land area but in terms of trade, we are ranked no. 25 in the World. We are an integral part of the global supply chain. In the 1990’s, Malaysia’s total trade stood at USD58.71 billion and in 2021, total trade stood at USD425.34 billion.” MCMTC President said.
Acknowledging that the Ministry of International Trade and Industry had put in a lot of effort to study the CPTPP, it was clearly shown that the CPTTP will not only open up new markets for Malaysia in terms of trade but will also bring about technical assistance and technology/know-how transfer which is critical for capacity building for our local businesses.
Citing, Canada is well-known for its strengths in high-tech, clean energy, and waste treatment and has already indicated its intention to extend collaboration with ASEAN markets via Vietnam which signed the CPTPP in March 2018. CarbonCure Technologies (which uses technology to convert polluters’ carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into an environmentally friendly strengthening agent for concrete, has already signed its first overseas licensing projects (3 projects) in Singapore in 2019.
MCMTC suggested looking at Vietnam which has benefitted from signing the agreement, officially effective only in Jan 2019, Vietnam-Canada bilateral trade in 2020 reached USD8.9million, up 12% from 2019 and 37% from 2018. It has also been reported in various media that Vietnam is now Canada’s largest trade partner in ASEAN while Canada is among Vietnam’s large investors. Vietnam has become the springboard for Canada into the ASEAN market via the CPTPP.
The association also questions if Malaysia could perhaps have a bigger share of the pie if had ratified earlier?
