KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed will be meeting lawmakers from both sides of the divide this week to brief them on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) agreement, his deputy Datuk Ahmad Maslan confirmed today.

The deputy international trade and industry minister said at the same time, the weekly nationwide roadshow on the free trade treaty will begin tomorrow, starting from Perak, until the special parliamentary sitting on January 26.

“This week, on the 7th, 10th, 11th, Datuk Mustapa will call members of Parliament, there will be a schedule, BN and opposition MPs for us to brief them on TPPA...at the ministry’s headquarters,” he told reporters after attending the 2015 National Book Award Scholars Appreciation Ceremony at PWTC.

Two weeks ago, Mustapa said his ministry will organise a day-long workshop to explain the details of the deal to lawmakers.

The US-initiated TPP talks have been widely criticised in Malaysia, with its opponents coming from the ranks of activists and opposition lawmakers to even former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Critics have claimed that the TPP would drive up medical costs due to patent provisions in the deal that would curb access to generic medicines, and also have an adverse effect on the country’s rice industry.

The TPP’s confidential negotiations officially kicked off in 2008 among a dozen nations, which are Brunei, Chile, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, the US and Vietnam.

Despite criticism over its lack of transparency compared to the US’ ongoing negotiations with the Eurozone on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the TPP has drawn the attention of Colombia, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea, which have all expressed interest in joining the pact of Pacific Rim countries.