Govt to engage stakeholders on TPPA

By R Kamalavacini

KUALA LUMPUR: The government says it is going to explain the contentious Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) to “stakeholders” and get feedback on the proposed free trade agreement this week.

The announcement to hold the engagement comes as cries to release the text of the proposed agreement becomes louder.

Senior lawmakers from at least seven of the negotiating countries have called for the text to be released.

Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu (MTEM) wants the government to release the text so that a meaningful debate could be held over the issue.

“This issue is of national interest. We should take it seriously before it goes out of control,” the MTEM said in a statement.

Other politicians from Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico and Peru had expressed concern about the lack of transparency in the TPP negotiations.

Even the members of the US Congress have issued a constant stream of letters objecting to the secrecy and seeking release of the draft texts.

In the meantime, responding to the various calls from stakeholders, the International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) is conducting intensified stakeholder engagements on the TPP updates as well as to gather feedback from them tomorrow.

The stakeholders involved are non-governmental organisations, industry representatives and selected individuals.

This will be followed by a meeting with parliamentary caucus on Feb 19. The ministry will update stakeholders on developments since the last TPP ministerial meeting in Singapore in December 2013,” it said in a statement yesterday.

In 2013, more than 52 TPP consultations were held by the ministry and other government agencies involved in the negotiations.

These consultations were to inform stakeholders of developments in the negotiations and to seek feedback which have been used by the negotiating team in formulating Malaysia’s position on the various issues in the TPP, the statement said.

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