One of the issues that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad touched upon during his hour-long interview with malaysiakini last Friday was the ongoing free trade agreement talks with the US.

"I have always been against it. I don't think there is any need for this FTA with the US," he told malaysiakini in the interview held at his spacious Perdana Leadership Foundation office in Putrajaya.

The veteran politician felt that Malaysia's economy was doing well and would continue to grow even without the FTA with US.

And he spoke about the alternative measures which he had proposed, such as the EAEC (East Asian Economic Caucus).

"(The government) is more interested in kowtowing to Australia and New Zealand. I am sorry to say (this), but I disagree with the government," he added.

Malaysia and US are involved in a critical fifth round of talks in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The talks are due to conclude on Friday.

Negotiators are however struggling to agree on several matters, including Malaysian Malaysian government procurement area, where the US is seeking priority treatment in the awarding of international tenders for expensive government projects.

Other difficult areas include Malaysia's protected financial services industry and the imports of rice and tobacco.

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