EFTA and Malaysia convene for 14th round of free trade negotiations in Geneva

From 4 to 8 December 2023, delegations from the EFTA States – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – and Malaysia met in Geneva for the 14th round of negotiations towards an Economic Partnership Agreement (MEEPA).

Markus Schlagenhof, Ambassador and Delegate of the Federal Council for Trade Agreements at the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, acted as the EFTA spokesperson, while Sumathi Balakrishnan, Senior Director at the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia, headed the Malaysian delegation.

Expert discussions covered a wide range of areas including trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, investment, intellectual property, government procurement, and trade and sustainable development. Moreover, chief negotiators met to discuss sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) and ways of advancing on the most sensitive issues. This week witnessed constructive and amicable discussions that resulted in substantial progress.

Another round of negotiations is envisaged for the first half of 2024. Prior intersessional discussions at expert and chief negotiator levels will take place with a view to further progressing negotiations and maintaining the good dynamic.

EFTA’s full report of the round is available here.

Economic relations between the EFTA States and Malaysia

Total trade between the parties has been growing steadily over the last ten years (+68% over this period). In 2022, bilateral EFTA-Malaysia merchandise trade reached almost EUR 2.4 billion. In that year, pharmaceutical products, machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical machinery and precision instruments were the primary exports from EFTA to Malaysia, while electrical machinery, precision instruments and machinery were EFTA’s main imports from Malaysia.

Read more about merchandise trade between EFTA and Malaysia here.