KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Malaysian government is "pushing hard" on the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said Thursday.
"We are pushing very hard (on the RCEP), if we fail to meet the deadline this year, we hope to conclude in the first half of 2018," Mustapa told the press.
He saw challenges to conclude the RCEP by the end of this year as only two out of the 22 chapters of the agreement have been concluded.
"There has been progress, and there are two more meetings by this year. But it is difficult as there are still 20 chapters work-in-progress," said Mustapa.
However, he emphasized that Malaysia is committed to the RCEP as it is an open trading nation.
"We believe it is important to simplify the rules and procedures, to make them uniform across the 16 countries," he said.
The RCEP covers the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its six dialogue partners including Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Mustapa expected the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into ASEAN to reach over 100 billion U.S. dollars this year.
According to ASEAN Secretariat, the total FDI inflows to ASEAN stood at 96.7 billion U.S. dollars last year.
"The investment in ASEAN has been steadily increasing as the region remains attractive to FDI. Malaysia and its companies are benefited from the investment," Mustapa added.
