The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), member nations have welcomed the substantial conclusion of the United Kingdom’s accession negotiations into the trade pact, which was manifested during the virtual CPTPP Ministerial Meeting with the UK on 31 March 2023.
The UK is the first country to formally apply for accession into the CPTPP on 1 February 2021. Since then, member countries and the UK have had a series of negotiating rounds, which anchored on the trade pact’s gold-standard rules being the most comprehensive and ambitious trade deal ever concluded.
Areas of negotiations include market access commitments on goods, services, investment, financial services, government procurement, state-owned enterprises, and temporary entry for business persons.
“We congratulate the UK on its impending membership into the CPTPP, which will mark Malaysia’s first free trade arrangement with the sixth largest economy in the world. With the UK’s eventual accession into the CPTPP, Malaysian
exporters will stand to benefit from additional preferential access into the UK’s market. Upon implementation of the Agreement, the UK will eliminate import duties for a wide range of products including palm oil, cocoa, rubber, electrical and electronics and chemicals, which are of significant export interest to Malaysia,” said Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Aziz, the Minister of International Trade & Industry.
The CPTPP is one of the most comprehensive trade deals ever concluded, eliminating 98 percent of tariffs in a trade zone representing a combined GDP of USD13.5 trillion, representing 13.4% of global GDP, and a population of over 500 million people.
The eventual accession of the UK into the CPTPP will open new opportunities for Malaysian businesses and SMEs, particularly through wider sourcing channels for materials at competitive prices, as well as technical assistance and capacity-building programmes, which would further stimulate Malaysia’s economic growth and strengthen regional supply chains. With Malaysia and UK’s historical trading and investment ties, membership in the CPTPP will further enhance this close relationship and foster greater economic cooperation.
Pursuant to the announcement by the CPTPP and the UK Ministers on the substantial conclusion of the accession negotiation, all Parties will work towards finalising the legal accession instrument, including the signing of the accession protocol scheduled in the third quarter of 2023.
