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It also supported the recent decision made by the Cabinet to continue with the negotiations.
<P>The FTA will help to sustain the textile and apparel industry in Malaysia which exports over RM2.5 billion a year and employs over 80,000 workers, the MTMA said in a statement today.</P>
<P>Last year, the textile and apparel industry was the seventh
manufactured goods export earner to the Malaysian economy.</P><P>"The US
market is our most important market and therefore the FTA is critical to the maintenance
and survival of the Malaysian textile and apparel industry," said MTMA president
Datuk Y.H. Tan.</P><P>"We have seen how FTAs between the US and other trading
partners have increased their textile and apparel exports. The competitiveness
of our industry and the quality of our products are desired by the US retailers,"
he said.</P><P>Tan said Malaysia needed to continue growing the textile and apparel
industry for the economic security of many Malaysian workers.</P><P>"It is
vital that the duties on Malaysian textile and apparel goods be immediately duty-free
and that the agreement should include mechanisms that will create a dynamic, and
not stagnant, agreement to reflect the industry as it changes over the coming
years," he said.</P><P>The MTMA called on the US and Malaysian negotiators
to move forward expeditiously, recognising the importance of the trade relationship
between the two countries.</P><P>Malaysia’s total textile and apparel exports
to the US last year totalled more than RM2.5 billion and are forecast to grow
by over 30 percent annually over the next few years. — BERNAMA</P><P><I>Source:
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_business.php?id=251668</I>
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com