AFTER marathon sessions since Sept 26, the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) deal has been struck.
Congratulations to International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and his team of officials.
They deserve our admiration for their commitment, care and consistency in advancing Malaysia’s interests.
Apparently, we received many TPP concessions for our concerns about protecting Bumiputera interests, government procurement, safeguards for state-owned enterprises, and for intellectual property rights.
We took a tough stand on these issues during the arduous TPP negotiations.
Now, Malaysians will raise many questions, such as:
HOW acceptable and relevant will these concessions be to vested interests?
The official text of TPP will be presented to the cabinet, Parliament and the public.
That is a welcome and a necessary pre-requisite, particularly because the negotiations had been secret.
WHAT if the vested interest groups resist any reduction in their trade privileges and protection?
Will the government resist them and stand for national interests;
WOULD the government want to continue to protect these vested interests?
Of course, those who benefited from crony capitalism and state capture will not want changes to the cozy conduct of their businesses and way of life.
HOW will the government handle them, with kid gloves or a strong hand?
What will be the litmus test of strong leadership and the sustainability of longer-term competitiveness for Malaysia?
WHAT do we do next?
We will have to wait for only a little while more to examine the deal.
Now the whole world will understand our reservations about TPP’s free trade, or as Nobel-Prize winner Professor J. Stigler, called it: the Managed Trade Agreement.
We will also get to know whether the United States is taking advantage of Asean and smaller and weaker economies in the Pacific Basin, or mainly looking after its own interests.
Mustapa and his officials would need to hold meetings to explain to the people what TPP means to us.
We cannot afford to leave national agreements and treaties to politicians to decide, as they may have their own political deals to settle.
We have to participate in the debate outside Parliament.
Now is the time to be more open and transparent in our dealings on TPP and other national issues.
Hence, we must take a serious interest in TPP and approve it before it is signed, and only if our national interests are met, and not only narrow vested interests are fulfilled.
n TAN SRI RAMON NAVARATNAM,Chairman, Asli Centre for Public Policy Studies, Kuala Lumpur