BERNAMA – Malaysia remains committed to a more equitable and sustainable global trade network despite the missed opportunity for all members to achieve consensus on a few major issues during the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) held in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in February.
Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz submitted Malaysia’s instrument of acceptance (IOA) for the agreement on fisheries subsidies (FSA), underscoring the country’s commitment to sustainable fishing practices on a global scale.
“To date, 71 WTO members have already accepted the FSA which emphasises the preservation of marine biodiversity and was adopted in June 2022 during the MC12 in Geneva, Switzerland,” the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry (MITI) said in a statement.
In the realm of dispute settlement reform, a priority issue for Malaysia and most of the members, MITI said the ministers unanimously agreed to continue working together to address the critical issue of the appeal review mechanism by 2024.
Another milestone was when 124 WTO members, including Malaysia, came together to unanimously adopt the investment facilitation for development (IFD) agreement, it said.
Commenting on the decisions, Tengku Zafrul said they demonstrated the unwavering commitment of Malaysia and WTO members to finding a resolution that is workable and acceptable to ensure a fair and effective, rules-based multilateral trading system that promotes transparency, fairness and stability globally.
“The dispute settlement process, for example, is key to such aspirations within the WTO framework, and we see it as highly important in facilitating Malaysian exporters’ trade transactions globally,” he said.
