Qualampur: Malaysia’s calm and strategic reaction to the position of American tariff is a model for ASEAN, ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) Malaysia President Tan Shri Nazir Razak.
He said that the way the government handled the situation, it is a “perfect way” contrary to the reactions of many other countries, which he said “was” very quickly or very aggressive “.
“Those of you who have long covered me, know that I do not praise easily, but I really feel that our government is very surprising in dealing with the status of American tariff,” he said 12 economic initiatives of Asian-Back, announcement of new corporate partnership and today in a media briefing at Asian business and investment summit.
Breaking it, Nazir first said, Malaysia remained calm; Secondly, it is with the United States to find out what is the rhetoric and what is reality in the American side. “Third, Malaysia is then back to strategic, which we are now doing. And then fourth, Malaysia will go back and interact.”
At the same time, Nazir admitted that non-tariff barriers (NTB) are an ASEAN-wide problem, in which the latest count is showing 9,642 NTBs throughout the region. “Somebody showed a chart, where there is a strong relationship between the reduction in tariff and the rise of non-tariff obstacles.”
He said that ASEAN is always one of the difficulties, which is the lack of a clear enforcement mechanism to bring down non-tariff barriers.
Nazir said, “There is a lot of such non-tariff barrier. From the private sector, I can say that there is a lot of disappointment,” Nazir said, Halal-attested food from Malaysia also requires additional approval to enter Indonesia or Brunei.
He said that as Malaysia interacts with the US, some of these non-tariff obstacles can be a good time to review.
“Sometimes, if you don’t look closely, you don’t even know why they are there. So it is an opportunity for us to review non-tariff barriers that are highlighted by the business sector.”
ASEAN-BAC also shared updates on its 12 major initiatives as Malaysia reaches half the path of its ASEAN president. In 2025, the council led by ASEAN-Bake Malaysia, meanwhile, launched its strategic sponsors for the upcoming ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2025 and ASEAN Business Award 2025. These development demonstrates increasing pace in ASEAN-Bake Malaysia’s efforts to progress in their headed year in South-East Asia.
Amidst an advocated initiative, the major ASEAN Business Anti -Framework is the construction of a regional trade category to allow companies in ASEAN markets to allow more operational flexibility.
Meanwhile, the ASEAN common carbon market initiative aims to remove an integrated carbon market deficiency in ASEAN. Through functioning in countries and increase in market efficiency, this initiative will support a well -working and liquid carbon credit market.
As part of its efforts, ASEAN-Bake Malaysia has established the Malaysia Carbon Market Association to collaborate with similar platforms in other ASEAN member states.
The ASEAN IPO Prospectus initiative advocates the harmony of initial capital enhancement across the border to facilitate a broad pool of capital for regional enterprises.
In addition, it is proposed to re -form the SEA Games as “ASEAN Sports” amid various types of initiatives.
“Since his launch in January, our 12 major initiatives have been continuously moving through the ongoing formal consultations with ASEAN bodies.
“ASEAN-BAC will also have a formal dialogue with ASEAN leaders at the upcoming 46th ASEAN Summit later this month,” said Nazir.
