KUALA LUMPUR: The first comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Malaysia and the United Kingdom (UK), through the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), will boost trade and investment relations between both countries.
Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the UK’s entry as a Group of Seven (G7) member and leading advocate of the rules-based trading system brings significant value to the CPTPP.
In his speech at the official ceremony of the UK’s CPTPP "enter-into-force” countdown, Tengku Zafrul said the UK remains a strategic trading partner to Malaysia, with total trade reaching RM14 billion (US$3 billion) in the first ten months of 2024.
"Moving forward, with both countries in the CPTPP, I am confident that these numbers will improve, through increased Malaysian exports of sustainable palm oil, aerospace parts, oil and gas, renewable energy, environmental products, electrical and electronics and lifestyle products, as well as British exports of machinery, pharmaceuticals, chocolates and confectionaries and high-tech goods.
"Furthermore, UK exporters can also leverage on the 16 FTAs Malaysia has ratified, including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and many others,” he said.
The UK is scheduled to enter the CPTPP on Dec 15, 2024. - Bernama
