Posted on 28 Oct 2009
Malaysia, New Zealand sign free trade deal
Malaysia signed a free trade agreement with New Zealand on Monday that will see the abolishment of import duties on their respective industrial and agriculture products, further liberalisation of the services sector and facilitation of cross-border investment.
Malaysia's International Trade and Industry minister Mustapa Mohamed and his New Zealand counterpart Tim Groser signed the agreement in the Malaysian capital after 10 rounds of negotiations that began in 2005.
The event was witnessed by the prime ministers of both countries.
New Zealand prime minister John Key, who is on his first visit to Malaysia since taking office in November last year, hailed the FTA, saying that besides a growing market, Malaysia is also a "launching pad" for New Zealand companies and products to penetrate the regional market.
"We see a tremendous potential and we appreciate the willingness of the Malaysian government to sign the FTA," he told reporters after opening the New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra's new plant on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur earlier Monday.
According to a statement from Malaysia's MITI, the FTA that is expected to take effect in 2010 will see Malaysia eliminate import duties on 10,293 tariff lines in products ranging from paper and plastics to automotive components by 2016.
New Zealand will abolish import duties on all of its tariff lines, 7,238, on goods such as cocoa products, carpets, tires, iron products and wood furniture by 2016.
Both countries also pledged to open their services sectors such as private education, mining, engineering, veterinary and tourism services.
The FTA is Malaysia's third bilateral agreement. It already has FTAs with Japan and Pakistan that were signed in 2005 and 2007.
Total trade between Malaysia and New Zealand was nearly $2 billion in an increase of more than 46 percent from 2007.
