International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed slammed Opposition lawmakers for bashing multinational corporations (MNCs) in Parliament, which is in a special sitting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

"The debate was good and under control, but I want to stress, if opposition lawmakers are against multinational corporations, then boot the MNCs out from the country.

“Ask them to close their factories and go back to US and Japan. Even Kelantan has MNCs," he said, adding that these companies also contributed to employment.

He reminded them that Malaysia, with its strong focus on trade and investment, is depending on the world, and warned of retaliatory action.

"If we boot MNCs out, their countries could chase out Malaysia's companies - Petronas, Sime Darby, Khazanah - from their countries too," he said at a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

The government is seeking the Dewan Rakyat's approval for a motion to sign the TPPA.

However, Mustapa said there were shortcomings in the agreement that needed to be rectified, and the MNCs needed to be more responsible in developing small and medium enterprises.

"Trade is about win-win rather than a zero-sum game," he said.

According to Mustapa, Malaysia has witnessed a new culture with the debate on the TPPA in Parliament, which is unprecedented.

"The new culture is a positive development to democracy," he said.

He also dismissed the claims that two-day parliamentary sitting was not adequate to iron out the problems in the trade pact.

"You must acknowledge that we are the only country in the world (to bring the trade treaty to Parliament ). MPs are not stupid, don't underestimate them. That is an insult," he said.

"We have agreed to engage with small and medium enterprises to allay their fears. We have also agreed to set up a body to supervise TPPA as proposed by NGOs," he added.