By Adib Zalkapli
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysia is willing to play a leading role in reviving the stalled EU-Asean free trade agreement (FTA) talks.
He, however, reiterated the southeast Asian nations’ collective stand that the issues concerning Myanmar should not be a stumbling block to the agreement.
“The EU has expressed concern that dealing with Asean would be tantamount to condoning the actions of those Asean members which do not subscribe fully to democratic principles,” said Najib at the official launch of the Malaysia-Europe Forum.
“I understand that the United Kingdom has made its stand clear that Myanmar should not benefit from the EU-Asean FTA,” he said.
“The position that Asean has taken is that these should not be an impediment to the completion of the FTA, as both parties stand to benefit under the theory that greater trade opens the door to political reform,” added Najib.
Official negotiations between the two regions were launched in 2007 with full implementation of an FTA expected by 2015, but were stopped last May.
“My administration is fully committed to helping get the issues to the table and I hope that there will be sufficient motivation from both the EU and Asean teams to resume discussions as soon as possible,” said Najib.
“Malaysia will play a leading role in moving the stalled EU-Asean FTA negotiations along and expects the catalyst may well come from the potential for the FTA to rebuild the wealth that has been lost during this most recent economic crisis,” he added.
At a dialogue session with participants after the opening ceremony, Najib explained that there are encouraging signs in Myanmar, especially on the treatment of political prisoners.
When it was pointed out that the UK is willing to resume negotiations with Asean countries individually, Najib said Malaysia still prefers to negotiate collectively with other members.
The EU was Malaysia’s fourth largest trading partner last year with a total trade worth US$41 billion (RM143 billion).
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