Malaysia signs economic partnership agreement with EFTA nations

The agreement offers opportunities for economic cooperation and trade to grow further and enables stakeholders on both sides to achieve valuable tariff savings. The parties also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation and capacity building, EFTA said in a joint press statement.

The agreement is an ambitious and broad-based agreement covering trade in goods, services and investment. Furthermore, this milestone agreement includes areas such as economic cooperation, trade and sustainable development, intellectual property rights, rules of origin, competition, trade facilitation, government procurement, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and technical barriers to trade.

Upon implementation, over 90 per cent of Malaysia’s exports—including all industrial goods—will gain permanent duty-free access to EFTA markets, replacing the benefits once offered under the generalised system of preferences (GSP), as per Malaysia’s media reports.

The Malaysia-EFTA Economic Partnership Agreement (MEEPA) was signed by Malaysia’s Minister of investment, trade and industry Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Aziz, Minister of trade of Norway and current EFTA chair Cecilie Myrseth, Minister of finance and economic affairs of Iceland Daði Már Kristófersson, Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein Sabine Monauni, and Vice President of Switzerland Guy Parmelin.

“At a time when the international trading system is under pressure, the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EFTA States and Malaysia is a powerful statement of our shared commitment to open, rules-based trade. It strengthens our economic ties, supports sustainable growth and provides opportunities for businesses and workers on both sides,” said Myrseth.

“This Economic Partnership Agreement represents more than just a trade agreement. MEEPA is a powerful tool for Malaysia and the EFTA States to enhance our bilateral trade and investment partnership, while strengthening our resilience in the face of global challenges. The signing of MEEPA is only the beginning. Together, our priority must be to fully operationalise this agreement and maximise its potential by facilitating greater collaboration between our governments and businesses,” said Zafrul.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (SG)