Malaysia says regional and bilateral trade pacts necessary

Malaysia says regional and bilateral trade pacts necessary

Agency France-Presse
Bandar Seri Begawan

Asian nations should pursue regional and bilateral free trade
arrangements despite their commitments to the World Trade
Organization (WTO), Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah
Badawi said here on Wednesday.

Such regional agreements allow countries "to build on their
strengths, to coalesce and counterweight the monopoly power of
larger trading blocs," he said in an address to the Pacific
Economic Cooperation Council (PECC).

"And taking into account the arduous and, at times, tilted
process towards multilateral trade agreements, regional and
bilateral arrangements are crucial stepping stones and building
blocs towards global free trade," said Abdullah, who is set to
succeed Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad later this year.

He said that Malaysia is exploring ways of strengthening its
relations with Japan under the framework of a comprehensive
economic partnership, and with the United States through a trade
and investment agreement.

On Tuesday, speakers at the PECC meeting called on Asia-
Pacific political leaders to champion the WTO process amid
concerns that the proliferation of regional and bilateral
initiatives could undermine its multilateral trade regime.

The PECC includes business leaders, analysts and academics who
advise regional governments on economic policy. East Asia has
been leading the world in forging regional and bilateral trade
agreements.

"We recognize the importance of forging greater linkages with
the objective of creating a liberalized trading environment in
the region (but) we realize the limitations of multilateral trade
agreements like the WTO," Abdullah said.

"The multilateral system is still seen to be corporate-driven
rather than development-driven, with powerful nations and
corporations wielding great influence.

"While committing ourselves fully to the WTO process, we also
believe that there is a need to pursue regional and bilateral
initiatives," he said.

Abdullah noted that Malaysia has been seen as a "globalization
heretic" because of the outspoken views of its leaders and the
unconventional measures it implemented to weather the Asian
financial crisis in 1997 and 1998.

One of the lessons learned is that countries "must not be
dogmatic and unwavering" in the pursuit of globalization, he
said, adding however that Malaysia also had benefited from open
trade, as is among the top 20 largest trading nations in the
world.

At the same time, he stressed that "the efficiency of market
forces can and has wreaked havoc in our region. We must be
practical about what works and what brings the greatest benefit
to our people."

Abdullah said security remained the region's greatest concern.

The recent bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta "is a
reminder that terrorist groups are still operational
notwithstanding the important strides that have been taken to
cripple their network."

Countries in the region must also muster the political will to
fight terrorism.

Being a largely Muslim country has not weakened Malaysia's
resolve to crack down on the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant
group, he said.

"Malaysians realize that JI terrorists and other Muslim
terrorist groups do not speak nor act on their behalf," Abdullah
added.