EU approves launch of free-trade negotiations with Malaysia

European Union (EU) trade ministers agreed Friday to launch free-trade negotiations with Malaysia.

The decision was made at a regular meeting of the ministers in Brussels. The EU hopes the final agreement could open business opportunities worth billions of euros for both sides.

The EU is Malaysia's fourth largest trading partner, while Malaysia is the EU's 22nd largest. Trade flows between the two sides reached 24.4 billion euros (31 billion U.S. dollars) in 2009.

No bilateral preferential trade arrangements currently exist between Malaysia and the EU, but under the new Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in force since January 2006, the share of Malaysia's merchandise exports to the EU eligible for preferential treatment rose from 16 percent to 81 percent. Over 70 percent of Malaysia's exports to the EU now enter duty-free.

Malaysia records a trade surplus with most EU member states.
(Source:xinhua)