Malaysia will continue to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) based on the mandate of defending and promoting the country's interest.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said in the TPP Ministerial Meeting held in Hawaii recently, Malaysia highlighted the areas of government procurement, state-owned enterprises and the Bumiputera issues as they issues touched upon the constitution and core policies

"On intellectual property rights, our stand in the negotiations is to ensure that the public has access to affordable drugs and health care while providing the necessary incentives to innovators to produce new drugs.

"On market access, we have concluded our negotiations with most TPP parties, where import duties for most products will be eliminated," Mustapa said in a statement today.

The TPP parties are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, United States, New Zealand and Vietnam.

"The outcome provides us good market access opportunities especially in markets where Malaysia does not have free trade agreements such as US, Canada, Mexico and Peru.

"It will give Malaysian exporters a competitive advantage over regional competitors in exporting electrical and electronics, chemical, palm oil, rubber, wood, textiles products plus automotive parts and components," Mustapa said in a statement today.

He said as an open economy and a country that has benefited from a more open trade and investment regime, Malaysia needed to move in tandem with regional and global developments.

"We would like to reiterate that in the event the TPP negotiations are concluded, the text will be presented to the public and Parliament for debate.

"Whether or not Malaysia becomes a party to the TPP will be a collective decision," he added.

The TPP Ministerial Meeting held in Hawaii from 28-31 July 2015 was preceded by a meeting of TPP Chief Negotiators from July 24-27.