Malaysia aims to play active role in strengthening regional, global trade

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia, the chair of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2025, will continue to play an active role in strengthening regional economic integration and positioning ASEAN as a competitive investment destination.

Malaysia’s Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) Minister Liew Chin Tong was quoted by local media as saying that the ministry has outlined several Priority Economic Deliverables (PED), including the conclusion of negotiations to upgrade the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), which is expected to be signed at the 47th ASEAN Summit in October.

Negotiations on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) are also expected to be substantively concluded by the end of this year, he said.

In addition, Malaysia, through ASEAN, is also strengthening cooperation with external partners, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and China, he said.

Liew said that ASEAN and the GCC have signed the ASEAN-GCC Framework of Cooperation (2024-2028), which focuses on key economic sectors.

In conjunction with Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship, he noted that the strengthening of ASEAN-GCC cooperation has been listed as one of the PEDs.

Additionally, the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-GCC Economic Cooperation, agreed upon at the 2nd ASEAN-GCC Summit in May, is expected to act as a catalyst in trade, energy, the digital economy and investment.

On the global trade situation, Liew stated that Malaysia chaired the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ (AEM) Special Meeting on April 10 after the US imposed reciprocal tariffs.

Regarding Malaysia’s trade, Liew noted that exports to the US accounted for just 13.2% of total exports in 2024. To mitigate tariff impacts, the government is maximising 18 existing free trade agreements (FTAs), negotiating new FTAs with Canada, the Republic of Korea, the European Union (EU), and GCC, and exploring potential deals with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka./.

VNA