Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia has reiterated its commitment to fostering a resilient, inclusive, and future-ready trade environment during the recent 31st Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting.

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Azizsaid was quoted by local media as saying that it is important that the pact continues to have such dialogue and platform, especially in preparation for the APEC Leaders' Summit in October.

Malaysia has seen some good progress in various areas such as cooperation on trade, especially on artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability and the importance of the rules-based multilateral trading system, he said.

Tengku Zafrul also reaffirmed Malaysia’s strong commitment to the multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at its core.

He said Malaysia underscored that an open, transparent, and fair-trading system is essential to regional and global economic stability.

Malaysia also called for the urgent restoration of the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism, and progress on key negotiations such as digital trade and fisheries subsidies.

In addition, he proposed closer convergence between APEC’s digital initiatives and ASEAN’s Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), including mutual recognition of digital credentials and trusted trader schemes, to enhance regulatory coherence and promote seamless digital trade.

On inclusivity, one of Malaysia’s suggestions was also on the scaling up of capacity-building efforts, particularly for small and medium enterprises in areas such as circular economy, carbon accounting, and smart agriculture.

Real progress is when businesses of every size have sufficient capacity to benefit from advances in technology and AI to achieve sustainable growth, he said.

In the 2025 Ministers Responsible for Trade Joint Statement, ministers collectively recognised the importance of the WTO in advancing trade issues and rearmed APEC’s role in creating a more resilient and prosperous Asia-Pacific region.

Tengku Zafrul said this proves that APEC is still a relevant platform for bringing forth various issues related to the economic coalition.

As part of Malaysia’s broader leadership in advancing regional cooperation, and in its capacity as ASEAN chair, Zafrul also hosted the inaugural APEC-ASEAN Ministerial Caucus on the sidelines of the MRT Meeting.

According to the ministry, the caucus served as a strategic platform to align economic priorities, enhance inter-regional collaboration, and coordinate responses to shared challenges.

𒐪 Minister Abdul Aziz also shared ASEAN’s joint efforts in responding to tariff-related challenges, stressing that Malaysia will maintain a neutral stance, diversify trade relationships, and remain open to investors regardless of bloc or origin./.