Asian nations should pursue regional and bilateral free trade arrangements despite their commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said today.

Such regional agreements allow countries "to build on their strengths, to coalesce and counterweight the monopoly power of larger trading blocs," he said in an address to the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.

"And taking into account the arduous and, at times, tilted process towards multilateral trade agreements, regional and bilateral arrangements are crucial stepping stones and building blocs towards global free trade," said Abdullah, who is set to succeed Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad later this year.

He said that Malaysia is exploring ways of strengthening its relations with Japan under the framework of a comprehensive economic partnership, and with the United States through a trade and investment agreement.

Corporate driven

On Tuesday, speakers at the PECC meeting called on Asia-Pacific political leaders to champion the WTO process amid concerns that the proliferation of regional and bilateral initiatives could undermine its multilateral trade regime.

The PECC includes business leaders, analysts and academics who advise regional governments on economic policy. East Asia has been leading the world in forging regional and bilateral trade agreements.

"We recognise the importance of forging greater linkages with the objective of creating a liberalised trading environment in the region (but) we realise the limitations of multilateral trade agreements like the WTO," Abdullah said.

"The multilateral system is still seen to be corporate-driven rather than development-driven, with powerful nations and corporations wielding great influence.

"While committing ourselves fully to the WTO process, we also believe that there is a need to pursue regional and bilateral initiatives," he said.

A heretic

Abdullah noted that Malaysia has been seen as a "globalisation heretic" because of the outspoken views of its leaders and the unconventional measures it implemented to weather the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998.

One of the lessons learned is that countries "must not be dogmatic and unwavering" in the pursuit of globalisation, he said, adding however that Malaysia also had benefitted from open trade, as is among the top 20 largest trading nations in the world.

At the same time, he stressed that "the efficiency of market forces can and has wreaked havoc in our region. We must be practical about what works and what brings the greatest benefit to our people."

Security concerns

Abdullah said security remained the region's greatest concern.

The recent bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta "is a reminder that terrorist groups are still operational nothwithstanding the important strides that have been taken to cripple their network."

Countries in the region must also muster the political will to fight terrorism.

Being a largely Muslim country has not weakened Malaysia's resolve to crack down on the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militant group, he said.

"Malaysians realise that JI terrorists and other Muslim terrorist groups do not speak nor act on their behalf," Abdullah added. - AFP