Bumiputera interests holding up Pacific trade talks

Americans and others unhappy about Malaysia's government-owned companies, says report.

PETALING JAYA: The next 48 hours will be crucial for trade ministers negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership in Atlanta, which will create the largest free trade area in the world, according to officials quoted in a news report.

A Malaysian official said: “For Malaysia, we are making good progress on issues like government procurement and biological drugs. But on the issue of state-owned enterprises, we are still stuck.”

Intellectual property rights for medicines is one of the contentious issues at the talks, which involve 12 countries in the Pacific rim. Japanese economic minister Akira Amari was quoted as saying the monopoly period for biological drugs was the most difficult issue remaining. Protection periods range from 12 years in the United States to five years in others, including Australia and Chile.

Trade ministers were scheduled to wrap up negotiations on Thursday but the talks were bogged down with issues from dairy trade, biological drugs to car parts.

Malaysia made good progress on several outstanding issues during this round, officials said, according to Star Online.

International trade minister Mustapa Mohamad is believed to have met with US Trade Representative Michael Froman twice but officials remained silent on what took place.

The Americans and several other partners in the talks are still unhappy over Malaysia’s stand on state-owned companies.

Mustapa had said in a media interview this week it was the toughest issue for Malaysia in the negotiations: officials were not just concerned over bumiputra interests but feared they might not be covered in the final fine print.

Malaysia has said the treaty would not be ratified if the government did not agree with the language of the agreement, as it was Parliament that would make the final decision.

The prime minister, Najib Razak had told US business leaders in New York that he was a strong supporter of the TPP and keen to remove trade barriers but the bumiputra agenda was vital to the country.

Reuters quoted several officials as saying a final deal could come quickly – depending on the outcome of bilateral talks on intellectual property protection for medicine and trade in dairy and autos.