Malaysia calls for WTO reforms, Apec nations to take leadership role

New Straits Times

16-05-2025

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has reaffirmed its strong commitment to a resilient, inclusive and future-ready trade environment, calling for a revitalised rules-based trading order and urgent reforms to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz emphasised the importance of maintaining an open, transparent and fair multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core.
Tengku Zafrul urged Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) economies to take a leadership role in restoring the rules-based order, particularly by reinstating the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism and advancing key trade negotiations, including those on digital trade and fisheries subsidies.
Speaking at an Apec meeting in South Korea, he highlighted Malaysia's domestic efforts to advance digitalisation and trade facilitation through initiatives such as the National AI Roadmap and the establishment of a National AI Office.
The efforts aim to harness artificial intelligence to reduce trade friction, increase productivit and strengthen supply chain transparency across borders.
Tengku Zafrul pointed out the importance of aligning digital and trade facilitation frameworks across the region.
He proposed closer convergence between Apec's digital initiatives and Asean's Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), including mutual recognition of digital credentials and trusted trader schemes, to enhance regulatory coherence and promote seamless digital trade.
"APEC must not merely respond to global trends, but must shape them. This means embedding trust, interoperability and inclusivity into every initiative, particularly in our approach to AI, cross-border trade facilitation and just climate transition," he said at the the 31st Apec Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) meeting in Jeju.
On inclusivity, Tengku Zafrul pointed out one of Malaysia's suggestions was also on the scaling up of capacity-building efforts, particularly for small and medium enterprises, in areas such as circular economy, carbon accounting and smart agriculture.
"Real progress is when businesses of every size have sufficient capacity to benefit from advances in technology and AI to achieve sustainable growth," he added.
Meanwhile, in a joint statement, the Apec trade ministers collectively recognised the importance of the WTO to advance trade issues and reaffirmed Apec's role in creating a more resilient and prosperous Asia Pacific region.
As part of Malaysia's broader leadership in advancing regional cooperation and in its capacity as Asean chair, Tengku Zafrul hosted the inaugural Apec-Asean Ministerial Caucus on the sidelines of the meeting.
He also held bilateral discussions with key counterparts, including US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to discuss issues relating to the reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US.