Govt winning hearts on TPPA, says minister

KUALA LUMPUR: International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed (pix) is convinced the government is already winning the fight in convincing rakyat to accept the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) as it will bring more benefits in the long run.
"I see increased acceptance of the TPPA among those who opposed it earlier, including those from the opposition political parties, following the series of townhall meetings held lately," he said after the TPPA briefing session and #TambahPendapatan forum attended by nearly 1,500 people today.
Stressing that TPPA is also a transformation agenda for the nation, Mustapa said the country's revenue would increase from US$107 billion (RM473.48 billion) to US$211 billion from 2018 until 2027.
"Based on reports on cost and benefit analysis, we can expect increased investment of between US$136 to US$239 billion with new job opportunities of 1.2 million by 2027," he added.
He said the basic wages of workers would also be increased up to 0.78% for skilled workers and 0.91% for non-skilled workers in the next 11 years.
Ahead of the special session on TPPA in Dewan Rakyat from Jan 26 to 28, Mustapa urged those who planned to hold a protest demonstration against TPPA at Dataran Merdeka on Jan 23 to "read the agreement and relevant documents available at the Ministry's website".
"I noticed part of the concern raised and protest towards TPPA are based on hearsay and not on the agreement released on Nov 5.
"After we explained to them and we took consideration of their concerns, they are happy with our explanation," said Mustapa, adding that there would still be some stubborn groups who refused to read the agreement.
He allayed fears and allegations by certain quarters that the TPPA would jeopardise Malaysia's sovereignty and the trade pact would result in selling the country to large foreign conglomerates.