He also made Malaysia’s position very clear – Malaysia will not agree to lopsided trade deals and any trade deal must either be equitable for developing nations or there will not be any deal at all. He said although there was a possibility that Malaysia would ratify the CPTPP, the country would ask for some exemptions. The Bantah TPPA/CPTPP movement said Malaysia should not ratify the trade deal as it may lose the flexibility of its essential policies, shaped by the multi-ethnic society. Meanwhile, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) opined that Malaysia should ratify CPTPP to ensure sustainable economic development in the future. Negotiations on the RCEP, another mega trade agreement, is still ongoing.

Source: The Star December 31, 2018 00:45 UTC