The People’s Republic of China is Malaysia and ASEAN’s largest trading partner, and this will be further elevated after upgrading negotiations of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) concludes.
This will immensely strengthen the existing close ties both at the bilateral and regional levels. The upgraded negotiations are expected to be completed within two years.
Malaysia’s participation in the ACFTA upgrade negotiations is crucial to enhance the cooperation and efforts to make ACFTA more inclusive, updated and comprehensive. The inclusion of four new sectors notably Digital Economy; Trade and Sustainable Development/Green Economy; Competition and Consumer Protection; and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises will notonly be mutually beneficial to all participating countries, but also demonstrate the importance of maintaining a stable, open and transparent trading environment that would facilitate trade and investment within the region.
Implemented since January 2010, Malaysia strongly supports the timely upgrade of the ACFTA which has become an important foundation in strengthening and improving economic relations and cooperation between ASEAN and China.
