KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 — New Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani told Parliament this morning that he plans to tighten loose clauses in the Agreement of Reciprocal Trade (ART) with the US, as he pledged to address all concerns around Malaysia’s economic sovereignty.
Several clauses of the pact have been heavily criticised as lopsided to favour US companies, and critics argued the signing of the agreement was rushed while the Opposition was completely left out of the negotiations that should have gone through Parliament first.
Malaysia signed the agreement in October last year, when US President Donald Trump attended the Asean Summit, but has not been ratified.
“From my understanding, this agreement is not finalised… so for me, when I see the ART, I found that there are many issues that we still need to deliberate over and agree on before we ratify,” Johari said during Question Time.
“We must address all the questions that have given rise to suspicion on questions of sovereignty and national interests, this is something I take note of”.
MORE TO COME
