BRUGES (Belgium): Malaysia and the European Union (EU) have not set a deadline to conclude negotiations for the Malaysia-EU Free Trade Agreement (Meufta).
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim however said both parties had agreed to accelerate the negotiations.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said previous talks between Malaysia and the EU could not be concluded due to several factors.
“We were not ready to accept their unreasonable conditions,” he told Malaysian media at the end of his two-day visit to Belgium, before leaving for Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Negotiations for Meufta started in 2010 but stalled in 2012 following Malaysia’s reservations over the EU’s palm oil procurement policies, subsidies, and sustainability clauses.
One of the reasons for the breakdown was discrimination over palm oil, particularly claims regarding open burning and labour practices.
Anwar said Malaysia was in a better position now to negotiate with the EU due to its political stability and economic strength.
He said Malaysia’s forestation programme had enabled the country to preserve about 54.58% or 18.05 million hectares of its forest.
In other developments, during the prime minister’s engagement with the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, both sides agreed to expedite discussions on the European Investment Bank Framework Agreement.
According to reports, the EU has pledged €10 billion (RM46.7 billion) in connectivity investments to Asean.
In a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) earlier yesterday, Anwar and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the resumption of negotiations for Meufta, marking a milestone in strengthening Malaysia’s economic ties with one of the world’s largest trading blocs.
The PMO said the resumption of talks also underscored Malaysia’s commitment to fostering deeper economic ties with the EU, a major trade and investment partner.
In 2023, the EU was Malaysia’s fourth-largest trading partner, with trade reaching RM206.79 billion.
For the period of January to November 2024, trade with the EU grew by 5.2% to RM200 billion compared to the same period in 2023.
As of 2023, EU investments in Malaysia had generated over 153,000 jobs through 1,323 projects valued at RM227.9 billion.