PETALING JAYA, August 12: The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will seize about RM27 billion of the people’s money through the income tax.
Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that Pakatan Rakyat has already expressed concern over the matter ever since the issue was discussed.
“Looking at the method of negotiations and the confidentiality, several things displayed will bring about negative effects in the fields of medicine, agriculture and services.
“Therefore, we are rejecting for negotiations to be continued before the key issues are clarified. The BN government has also been deflecting the issue by giving positive impressions in the beginning even though now, it is beginning to be negative.
“However, negotiations are still being pursued,” he said at a press conference at the PKR headquarters today.
The TPPA is an agreement proposed by the FTA which is taking place between 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the Philippines, the United States, Vietnam and Japan, with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) exceeding US$33 trillion last year.
At this time, the United States (US) had FTAs with six countries, namely Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Singapore.
During the press conference, Anwar believes that the US is the main negotiator behind most of the recommendations made through the TPPA.
“With all 29 chapters in negotiations, and with 10 of them being the priority of the FTA, we see US efforts to exert economic pressure through the free markets, (and) the deregulation among small countries.
“The negative impact on the local economy would have an impact on the people’s lives when the value of the national currency falls in the market,” he said.
