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Trade and Industry Minister (Miti) Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said negotiations would
continue on 58 outstanding issues but did not say if they would be concluded on
time to seal an agreement this year.
<P>“It is an ongoing process. There
are many outstanding issues to discuss,” she said after a briefing on the
performance of the manufacturing sector in 2006 yesterday. </P><P>Malaysia and
the US ended the fifth round of talks in Sabah last week without scheduling for
a sixth. The US has been keen to conclude talks by March, ahead of the expiry
of President George Bush’s Trade Promotion authority in July this year. </P><P>“That
is the US deadline, not Malaysia’s,” Rafidah said. She said the negotiations
involved various different ministries, including the Domestic Trade and Consumer
Affairs Ministry. It oversees 16 of the outstanding issues. </P><P>Rafidah said
she would be briefing the Cabinet today to obtain some resolutions to some of
the outstanding issues from relevant ministries. She said failure to conclude
the FTA talks with the US would not affect foreign direct investments in Malaysia.
</P><P>In 2006, Miti approved RM46bil worth of projects, of which 40% were from
foreign companies. </P><P>“We notched up all these figures without the US
free trade agreement. The Americans have been here long before we talk about the
FTA.” she added. </P><P>On Feb 9, Rafidah said the country would not budge on
policies that benefited ethnic Malays, an issue in which both parties could not
come to an agreement.</P><P><I>Source: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/2/14/business/16873819&sec=business</I>
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