JEJU: Malaysia today reiterated its commitment to fostering a resilient, inclusive, and future-ready trade environment during the 31st Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting, which just concluded in Jeju, South Korea.
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said it is important that the pact continues to have such dialogue and platform, especially in preparation for the APEC Leaders’ Summit in October.
“We have seen some good progress in various areas such as cooperation on trade, especially on artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability and the importance of the rules-based multilateral trading system,” he said to Bernama.
In a statement later, Tengku Zafrul also reaffirmed Malaysia’s strong commitment to the multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at its core.
He said Malaysia underscored that an open, transparent, and fair-trading system is essential to regional and global economic stability.
Malaysia also called for the urgent restoration of the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism, and progress on key negotiations such as digital trade and fisheries subsidies.
In addition, 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.
“On inclusivity, 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 said.
In the 2025 Ministers Responsible for Trade Joint Statement, ministers collectively recognised the importance of the WTO in advancing trade issues and reaffirmed APEC’s role in creating a more resilient and prosperous Asia-Pacific region.
Tengku Zafrul said this proves that APEC is still a relevant platform for bringing forth various issues related to the economic coalition.
As part of Malaysia’s broader leadership in advancing regional cooperation, and in its capacity as ASEAN chair, Zafrul also hosted the inaugural APEC-ASEAN Ministerial Caucus on the sidelines of the MRT Meeting.
The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry said the caucus served as a strategic platform to align economic priorities, enhance inter-regional collaboration, and coordinate responses to shared challenges.
Under Malaysia’s chairmanship, the meeting also highlighted the importance of ASEAN unity and centrality in addressing complex regional and global issues, while emphasising the importance of resolving trade tensions through dialogue and safeguarding open, fair, and inclusive trade in the face of growing protectionism.
“We also bring Malaysia’s view. As the chairman of ASEAN, we also bring ASEAN’s view to the APEC Summit.
“For Malaysia, we continue our stance as a neutral country and as an open economy country. We trade with all countries, and we also want to invite investors to come to Malaysia regardless of their bloc or their economy,” he explained.
Outside the APEC MRT meeting, Tengku Zafrul also held bilateral discussions with key counterparts, including Ambassador Jamieson Greer, United States (US) Trade Representative, to discuss issues relating to the reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US.
This high-level engagement provided Malaysia with an important opportunity to share Malaysia’s proposals to address the US tariff matter, with the third round of discussion slated to take place in Washington in June.
In Malaysia’s capacity as ASEAN chair, the minister also highlighted ASEAN Member States’ collective efforts in responding to the tariffs, particularly through issuing the Joint Statement by ASEAN Economic Ministers on April 10, 2025.
Meanwhile, in the bilateral meeting with South Korea’s Trade Minister Inkyo Cheong, Tengku Zafrul previously stated that the discussions are progressing smoothly and the free trade agreement is set to be finalised by October in Kuala Lumpur.
During the MRT meeting, Malaysia also highlighted key national initiatives such as the National AI Roadmap and the establishment of a National AI Office, both of which aim to harness AI to reduce trade friction, increase productivity, and strengthen supply chain transparency across borders.
