Former rural and regional development minister Shafie Apdal said he has raised his concerns on the challenges Malaysia would face if it signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

"I raised in the cabinet the worries and doubts on how are we going to clarify and overcome the principal issues, which we should take into consideration," Shafie said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

"I proposed that a cost-benefit analysis be conducted to ensure a win-win situation. The treaty should not be done at our expense," he said when debating the motion to approve the TPPA, which the government intends to pass today.

"We have signed a total of 13 trade agreements thus far, where some of them benefit us and some do not.

"This is not only about the amendments of our laws, but also a change of our fundamental structure.

"Besides this, I also suggested that we look at the experiences of the other countries that have signed treaties with the US," Shafie, the MP for Semporna and an Umno vice-president, said.

Citing Mexico, which signed a trade treaty with the US as an example, he said, 1.3 million Mexicans workers, particularly farmers, became unemployed following the influx of US products.

"We need to look into all these matters, for the sake of future generations," he said.

Is government prepared for challenges?

Shafie then asked if the government was prepared to face challenges that would arise, including the capacity-building of local companies, the protection of the bumiputera and whether they could compete with international players to capture the markets.

"What are the steps we have taken on capacity-building so that the traders can have the access to capture markets, given the limitations of our resources, capital and networking?" he asked the government.

"These are the things that my friends in the cabinet know I raised, for I was quite vocal in the cabinet," he said.

However, Shafie emphasised, his statement today was not equivalent to opposing the TPPA.

The government now protects local retailers by prohibiting giant chainstores from opening outlets at places where the population is below 300,000, he noted.

He then asked who would bear the legal costs - the state government or the federal goverment - if a foreign corporation resorts to legal action on an issue.

The capacities of local lawyers would also have to be built up so they could handle issues concerning investor-state legal disputes, Shafie said.

"When the US economy is down, we have to support them as we will be part and parcel of the system. But, will the US support us if our economy is down ?" he asked.

Shafie was dropped from cabinet last July for being vocal on the debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) issue.

The government is seeking the Dewan Rakyat to pass TPPA today, at the close of the two-day special sitting on the 12-nation deal, which began yesterday.

Malaysia is slated to sign the TPPA next month.