By Karina Imran
KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (Bernama) -- Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz today confirmed a Bernama report that Malaysia and oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) soon.
Tengku Zafrul said today that both parties are working on arrangements for the official launch of the FTA negotiations and that a joint declaration of intent is expected to be announced soon.
Bernama yesterday reported that negotiations for a FTA between Malaysia-GCC countries are expected to start on May 27, 2025.
The minister said that during his visit to the GCC office in Saudi Arabia last week, he had talked to the Secretary General of GCC (Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi) “about trying to make sure that we put this on the fast track and complete this within one year.”
Malaysia has experience dealing with one of the GCC countries in forging an FTA.
“We just completed our Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, and that was done in a record 10 months.
“So, this is a chance for us to continue with GCC as a whole, so that we can expand our trade and investment between Malaysia and GCC,” he said.
GCC, established by an agreement concluded on May 25, 1981, is a regional political and economic alliance whose member states include Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Tengku Zafrul added that Malaysia is aiming for a win-win framework that delivers benefits to both sides from the spillover on trade and investment when the pact is signed.
While talks are still in their early stages, several key sectors have already been identified as having strong potential, he said.
“For Malaysian exporters, we are looking at sectors like semiconductors and electrical and electronics (E&E).
“We are also looking at traditional sectors where GCC has a strong presence, such as chemicals and petrochemicals, as well as oil and gas.
“Emerging industries are also on the agenda, including the halal economy, digital economy, renewable energy (RE) and artificial intelligence (AI),” he said.
Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia is also in discussions with some GCC countries on Malaysia sharing its experience in the semiconductor sector.
He also highlighted RE as a particularly promising area for collaboration, with GCC countries making significant investments in the sector.
“Malaysia wants to meet the net-zero emissions target by 2050, so we need to work closely with investors and energy companies.
“We've already seen in Malaysia that there are two big energy companies, from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which have already stated their interest publicly to invest in Malaysia for RE,” he said.
When asked about the potential trade value of the future FTA, Tengku Zafrul said it is too early to estimate.
“We just want to announce that we’re going to start negotiations. From there, we need to agree on the sectors and terms and then we can conduct an analysis to estimate potential trade and investment flows,” he said.
Malaysia is hosting the 46th ASEAN Summit and two pivotal high-level engagements, namely the 2nd ASEAN-GCC Summit and the inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China Summit, which would serve as strategic platforms to advance regional and inter-regional cooperation.
As ASEAN chair, he said Malaysia is well-positioned to act as a bridge between the regional bloc and the GCC.
Although Malaysia has a long-standing relationship with the GCC, as well as other ASEAN member states, “we should leverage our chairmanship this year to bring together ASEAN member states to get closer with the GCC.
“That's why we have the ASEAN-GCC summit, and at the same time, we have the Economic summit for ASEAN-GCC,” he said.
He added that these platforms play a key role in enhancing connectivity in businesses, digital and infrastructure cooperation.
“In today’s challenging geopolitics and geoeconomics landscape, this is the best time for ASEAN and GCC countries to work together and assess each other's market and track each other's investment,” he concluded.
-- BERNAMA
