KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has urged US President Barack Obama to provide leadership in the area of free trade and says he is still keen on inking a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US.
Najib said he hopes the Doha free trade talks would be completed as soon as possible.
His statements come after the Obama administration had indicated that it is reviewing its overall approach where bilateral and multilateral trade agreements can fit into its trade strategies.
"We are quite keen to ink the FTA with the US on terms which are mutually acceptable but i think the present administration is not quite ready to indicate their position on the free trade," Najib told Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine in an open dialogue session at the Forbes CEO Conference here last night.
"I hope the Obama administration would provide leadership in free trade and ensure the spirit of free trade is accepted."
Asked by Forbes on what Najib would like the US to do with regards to the valuation of its currency, Najib replied that he just hoped that the currency value would remain stable as businesses need the certainty.
The prime minister also said that the Asean+3 countries (China, Japan, Korea) were encouraged to enter into FTAs on a multilateral basis as well as on individual country basis.
"We will see much more integration within Asean and Asean+3, though some countries are better positioned to move faster on integration and they should move ahead" said Najib, to which Forbes responded that it was a good reason for the US to conclude an FTA with Malaysia.
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
