“What contributes to the GDP growth,” Santiago told FMT, “is value growth in the economy. Therefore the focus should be on education and skills and vocational development. These are the ways you bring about long-term GDP growth.”
He added that the Malaysian education system was ripe for a reform, and efforts should be made towards it.
Anifah said in a recent statement that the Ministry of International Trade and Industry had made sure that Malaysia’s interests would be safeguarded in the TPPA. If Malaysia did not sign the agreement, he warned, “the safeguards would be forgone and Malaysia may not have another opportunity to secure carve-outs that protect our domestic interest in the future.”
Santiago noted that in the case of the TPPA, the “carve-outs” were essentially protections for the Bumiputera agenda. He said it was “not really helpful” to argue that such protections would contribute to the country’s growth, especially in the light of the World Bank’s calls for more effective reforms of Bumiputera policies.
He also took International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed to task for saying, at a recent Malay Chamber of Commerce event, that the TPPA would not affect Malaysia’s sovereignty. He pointed out that the Investor-State Dispute Settlement clause of the TPPA’s Investment Chapter allows foreign corporations to challenge a nation’s authority, including its legislation, at a tribunal outside its borders.
“It’s not only our policy making process that faces attack,” he said. “The judgements of our courts and the decisions of our parliament also come under attack. When Mustapa says that our sovereignty is not under attack, I think he misunderstands the Investment Chapter.”
Because the countries brought to the tribunal would incur huge costs, and because every legislative consideration would be open to scrutiny by a foreign corporation, there would be a “regulatory chill” that would discourage TPPA countries from making policies that might be good for their citizens, Santiago said.
“The fact is that the government is allowing itself to be challenged, therefore digging its own grave,” he added.