The Malaysian Investment, Trade & Industry (MITI) will be engaging in discussions on digital economy, green economy, and a stronger integration of Malaysia’s Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) into the global supply chain at the 7th Commission Meeting of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) that will be held from 15 to 16 July 2023 in Auckland, New Zealand.
MITI’s delegation will be led by Minister of Investment, Trade & Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Aziz who said, “Apart from digital economy and green economy, MITI wants to ensure that the benefits from the CPTPP will trickle down to the Malaysian people and businesses, particularly the SMEs who must be better integrated into the global supply chain.”
Further, the 7th Commission Meeting of the CPTPP is highly anticipated to accept the United Kingdom as the 12th member of CPTPP.
At this annual CPTPP Commission meeting in New Zealand, the CPTPP Ministers will continue their engagement in ensuring effective implementation of the CPTPP that was signed by 11 founding Parties on 8 March 2018 in Santiago, Chile.
As the Chair of the CPTPP for 2023, New Zealand is expected to drive the discussion on CPTPP priority areas of focus in 2023, notably advancing green economy and enhancing digital economy facilitation including customs administration and processes.
At the end of the meeting, the ministers are expected to issue a Joint Ministerial Statement, in which amongst others, the Commission will welcome the entry into force of the Agreement for Chile on 21 February 2023 and Brunei Darussalam on 12 July 2023.
Taking advantage of the presence of Ministers from key trading partners, Zafrul is also scheduled to have bilateral engagement with counterparts from New Zealand, Canada and Japan to discuss trade and investment matters of mutual interest.
The CPTPP members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The Agreement is home to 500 million people with a combined GDP of USD13.5 trillion.
