To this end, he said he was willing to debate Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, who accused Wong Chen of twisting the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
At a press conference, Wong Chen argued that judging from the government-sanctioned cost-benefit analysis of the TPPA by PwC, the potential overall gains for Malaysia were insignificant.
He posited that there were two prevailing myths regarding the trade agreement due to be debated in Parliament, the first being that Malaysia stood to gain the “first mover advantage” by signing the pact and the second being that foreign direct investment (FDI) would “miraculously” increase.
“There is no data to support the notion that TPPA will benefit Malaysia economically, and thus, it has something to do with Prime Minister Najib Razak’s friendly relationship with the United States of America.
“Therefore, the PM and the Foreign Minister must answer to the public as to why we are pursuing the TPPA for a few lousy dollars,” said Wong Chen.
The Kelana Jaya MP also pointed out that according to the PwC report, sectors that contributed presently to the Malaysian national income– namely oil and gas, palm oil and construction– were all set to face “setbacks” from the TPPA due to increased international competition and labour costs.
Meanwhile, sectors that stood to benefit from the trade pact were electrical and electronics industries, which were primarily owned and controlled by foreign companies, as well as textiles, which was an insignificant contributor to the Malaysian GDP.
“The only true Malaysian winner is the automotive component industry, which is mostly Malaysian-owned.”