Minister: Foreign investors can’t sue Malaysia arbitrarily under TPP

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 ― Foreign investors would not be able to use the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) arbitrarily to sue Malaysia under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, de facto law minister Nancy Shukri told the Dewan Rakyat today.

The minister, in her speech on the effects of the TPP on Malaysia, said this is because all regulations to summon a country to an international tribunal using the ISDS would be tightened under the TPP to prevent exploitation.

“They (investors) therefore, cannot arbitrarily summon the government to an international tribunal using investor-state dispute settlement.

“Few safeguards have been listed under the TPP and the (affected) investor needs to first prove the loss he or she incurred due to the actions of a government (party to TPP),” Nancy said.

The ISDS provisions grant foreign investors the right to use dispute resolution mechanisms against a host state in the event that a foreign investor’s rights as provided for by the Treaty or Agreement concerned are breached.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said that investors who bring forth a lawsuit also need to fork out legal cost of arbitration to the government being sued, in case the lawsuit proves to be facetious.

Nancy also lambasted the opposition for accusing Putrajaya and its TPP negotiators as being unpatriotic for wanting to sign the agreement drafted by the United States (US), claiming that the officers involved in the deal had made sure to keep the people’s welfare in mind.

She told the opposition not to politicise issues surrounding the trade pact, or “put on a drama” to show they are the only ones defending the country.

Parliamentarians from both sides of the political divide convened yesterday a two-day event to discuss a motion on approving the TPP at the Dewan Rakyat.

Twelve countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US, Vietnam and Malaysia, concluded the TPP negotiations in Atlanta on October 5 last year.

The TPP is a free trade agreement that has been negotiated by the US, Malaysia and 10 other nations as part of the larger Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership since 2010.