Bimp-Eaga business council hopes to benefit from TPPA
Published on: Thursday, October 08, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and The Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) Business Council hopes to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) when it comes into effect. Its chairman, Datuk Roselan Johar Mohamed said however, only Brunei and Malaysia had been involved in the negotiations and he was puzzled why Indonesia and the Philippines had not expressed interest in the agreement. "Even within Asean, notably Thailand and Cambodia are also not in and evidently, what is good for the US may not be good for them," he said, adding that over time, it is hoped the TPPA would benefit the signatories as well as other countries.
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It is hoped that other countries would join the agreement later once they have seen the goodness, he told Bernama here Wednesday. Roselan Johar pointed out that detailed explanation was needed on what the TPPA could offer its signatories by showing examples and probable implications. "We are dealing with developed nations whose operating standards are all there. They play by the rules and compete on an even keel. "On the other hand, we are still developing, we were shown examples of standards and practices which we could decipher and adopt," he said.
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Roselan Johar said all the fuss against the TPPA started even before the TPPA passed through the US Congress, hence the US and signatory countries needed to explain the agreement clearly and confidently. He also proposed the setting up of tribunals under the TPPA to compell errant signatory countries to pay for damages on economic activities that could cause global corporations to lose profits or affected by lack of safety or inadequate environmental regulations.
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