Author: Hafiz Noor Shams

In Malay, there is a saying that roughly goes “hendak seribu daya, tidak hendak seribu dalih“. It means where there is a will, there is a way. The proverb aptly describes the just recently agreed upon free trade deal between South Korea and the United States of America. The deal is agreed upon despite the fact that both parties missed the first two deadlines twice. As such, while “hendak seribu daya” belongs to the Korean, “tidak hendak seribu dalih” truly belongs to the Malaysian.

As reported by AP earlier:

The United States and South Korea successfully concluded a free trade agreement after almost 10 months of contentious negotiations, a U.S. official said Monday.

The deal, which requires legislative approval in both countries, is the biggest for the United States since the North American Free Trade Agreement signed in 1992 and ratified in 1993. It is the biggest ever for South Korea. [South Korea, U.S. Reach Free Trade Deal. AP via Forbes. April 2 2007.

With the deal, the South Koreans are probably going to move farther up the economic ladder, leaving behind Malaysia which is too scare to face the reality out there in the world. So far behind that we would, as our leaders ever so proudly declare, be first among third world nations.

We, unfortunately, seem to prefer to sit in the dark inside a box, ignoring the wave of changes outside the box. While South Korea will continue to roar, there we are, sleeping with policies crafted nearly half a century ago, thinking such outdated policies are our savior.

Between the world of wonders in one hand and world of stagnation in the other, Malaysia chooses the latter, thinking it is not worth it to be better tomorrow than what we are today. We would rather defend an outdated policy that has failed instead of creating new one that promises greater prosperity.

All is not lost though. Malaysia and the US plan to get back to the negotiation table in mid-April:

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Bernama) — Malaysia and the United States Saturday missed their deadline to submit a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to the US Congress that would have secured fast-track approval from Capitol Hill.

US Ambassador to Malaysia Christopher LaFleur said here Friday “although the two countries won’t make the deadline, what’s important is not the timing but the substance of the agreement.”

The goal of the two countries was “to reach a high quality FTA that would benefit both countries,” he said when addressing the Malaysian-American Society at the American University here.

[…]

Meanwhile, US-Malaysia trade talks which stalled in Sabah will be revived in Washington in mid-April. [Malaysia And US Miss FTA Deadline. Bernama. April 2007]

The ambassador is right in every sense. Nevertheless, with the Democrats in control of Congress, it will be harder to get a free trade agreement that comes close to the the spirit of free trade. Further, previously, Malaysia had great advantage over the US negotiators. Time was the leverage and time was on our side.

Alas, that window had come and passed. With the end of the TPA, Malaysia now truly stands alone against a giant, unless we jumpstart the Doha round.

With one more day to catch the window granted to the US Trade Promotion Authority by the US Congress to fast track trade negotiations, it becomes increasingly clear that both the Malaysian and the US negotiators are going to miss it. As stated earlier, with the Democrats in control of the Congress, it would be hard to carve out a free trade agreement between the two countries without the TPA. The same scenario is applicable to the South Korea-US FTA:

SEOUL, South Korea — As the deadline looms for the potentially historic free-trade talks between the U.S. and South Korea, the biggest obstacles are turning out to involve the same thing as in most trade discussions: food.

The two countries aim to finish a comprehensive trade agreement Friday, the biggest such deal ever for Korea and since 1993 for the U.S., and one that is being closely watched by other countries. They still need to reach major compromises in areas such as automotive trade and investment protections, according to people close to the discussions.

But those aren’t areas that might cause the deal to fall apart, these people say. Instead, it is two commodities that are closer to the hearts of both sides-beef for the U.S. and rice for South Korea. [Food is biggest obstacle in Seoul-U.S. trade talks. WSJ Asia. March 30 2007]

Also, observe how the interest of many is held hostage by the few:

South Korean is afraid that boosting imports of beef and rice will hurt business for its farmers, though it would reduce food prices for a far greater number of its consumers. [Food is biggest obstacle in Seoul-U.S. trade talks. WSJ Asia. March 30 2007]

The same event is being played out in Malaysia, as in many other country, at the expense of many, in the name of the few.

p/s — One last try by the South Korean and the American:

March 31 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. and South Korea agreed to extend talks toward a free-trade agreement by 48 hours, said Kim Jong Hoon, the chief South Korean negotiator for the agreement.

“Both sides formed a consensus that additional negotiations would be helpful and necessary, and therefore the U.S. delegation discussed this closely with its government and the Congress overnight, and decided to extend the talks by 48 hours, to April 2, 1 a.m. Korea time,” Kim said. [U.S., South Korea Extend Their Free-Trade Talks. Bloomberg. March 31 2007.

For Malaysia, the deadline has officially passed, because we as Malaysians are too afraid to grasp for prosperity, in spite of our rich history as trading civilizations.

pp/s — It is 1 A.M. in Seoul and no news has come out yet. I am assuming that the negotiation has officially failed.

ppp/s — Wow. These people are serious. The deadline for the negotiation has been extended yet again:

SEOUL, April 2 (Yonhap) — Top-level officials from South Korea and the United States struggled Monday to come up with major compromises in their final stage of negotiations on a proposed free trade agreement (FTA), with the deadline for the talks extended for the second time in two days. [South Korea-U.S. FTA talks go past extended deadline to salvage deal. Yonhap News. April 2 2007]

Damn. I wish that was Malaysia.

ppp/s — The second deadlines has come to pass but optimism is running high:

SEOUL, April 2 (Yonhap) — Top South Korean and U.S. negotiators worked through the night past a second deadline on Monday to try to forge a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) amid growing indications that a deal was imminent.

A South Korean government official close to the talks said his government was waiting for a rely from the United States after delivering its final proposal for the terms of an agreement.

“The ball is now in the U.S. court,” the official said, asking that he not be identified. [Deal imminent in South Korea-U.S. FTA talks: sources. Yonhap News. April 2 2007]