The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) said the freshly-signed trans-Pacific trade deal will give Malaysia a competitive edge in the region and build investor confidence.
According to the FMM, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CP TPP), signed in Chile on March 8, promises a degree of transparency and predictability in investment rules, tariff concessions and avenue to address non-tariff barriers for local manufacturers.
The CP TPP is expected to diversify Malaysian manufactured product exports, the FMM said, adding this will help Malaysian parts and components manufacturers to export to global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) located in CP TPP countries like Mexico and become part of the global supply chain, it added.
Besides, tariff concessions agreed to by each CP TPP country will boost exports for the electrical and electronics (E&E) industry which has been a key contributor to Malaysia’s export earnings.
The FMM said export growth into other countries such as Canada and the Latin American countries, particularly Mexico. These countries currently impose high tariffs for electrical appliances, telecommunication devices and consumer electronics.
Manufacturers are also expected to benefit from a diversification of import sources of industrial inputs and components, it said.
The CP TPP, a new version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, comprises 11 member nations, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam./.