MALAYSIA has reaffirmed its commitment to building a resilient, inclusive, and future-ready trade environment during the 31st APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting, which concluded this week on Jeju Island.
Speaking to Bernama, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said, “We have seen some good progress in various areas such as cooperation on trade, especially on artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability and the importance of the rules-based multilateral trading system.”
He stressed that it is crucial APEC maintains this dialogue, particularly in the lead-up to the APEC Leaders’ Summit in October.
In a subsequent statement, Tengku Zafrul reiterated Malaysia’s firm support for the multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at its core, and called for the urgent restoration of the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism. He further underscored the need for progress on key negotiations including digital trade and fisheries subsidies.
“Malaysia underscored that an open, transparent, and fair-trading system is essential to regional and global economic stability,” he said.
Tengku Zafrul also proposed aligning APEC’s digital trade initiatives with ASEAN’s Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), advocating for mutual recognition of digital credentials and trusted trader schemes to enhance regulatory coherence and facilitate seamless digital trade.
“On inclusivity, one of Malaysia’s suggestions was also on the scaling up of capacity-building efforts, particularly for small and medium enterprises in areas such as circular economy, carbon accounting, and smart agriculture,” he said.
“Real progress is when businesses of every size have sufficient capacity to benefit from advances in technology and AI to achieve sustainable growth.”
The 2025 APEC MRT Joint Statement acknowledged the WTO’s pivotal role in trade advancement and reaffirmed APEC’s mission to foster a resilient and prosperous Asia-Pacific region.
Tengku Zafrul remarked that the statement reflects APEC’s continued relevance in tackling pressing trade and economic issues.
Malaysia also took the initiative to host the first APEC-ASEAN Ministerial Caucus on the sidelines of the MRT meeting, leveraging its current ASEAN chairmanship. The caucus aimed to align regional economic priorities, coordinate responses to shared challenges, and strengthen inter-regional collaboration.
The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry noted that the caucus highlighted ASEAN unity and centrality in managing complex global and regional trade challenges, stressing the importance of dialogue in resolving tensions and promoting open, fair, and inclusive trade amidst growing protectionism.
“We also bring Malaysia’s view. As the chairman of ASEAN, we also bring ASEAN’s view to the APEC Summit,” Tengku Zafrul said.
“For Malaysia, we continue our stance as a neutral country and as an open economy country. We trade with all countries, and we also want to invite investors to come to Malaysia regardless of their bloc or their economy.”
On the margins of the MRT meeting, the minister also engaged in bilateral talks, including with United States Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer, to address reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US. Malaysia presented proposals to resolve the issue, with a third round of discussions set for June in Washington.
In another bilateral engagement, Tengku Zafrul met with South Korea’s Trade Minister Inkyo Cheong. He stated that negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement are progressing well and are expected to conclude by October in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia also spotlighted domestic initiatives such as the National AI Roadmap and the establishment of a National AI Office. These measures aim to leverage artificial intelligence to ease trade processes, boost productivity, and increase transparency in supply chains across borders. - May 17, 2025
