DAP’s Charles Santiago says Malaysia’s small-medium enterprises would be pitted against multinational corporations and could be wiped out if there was no contingency plan. ― File picPETALING JAYA, Dec 4 ― Using football as analogy, DAP’s Charles Santiago voiced today concern for the survival of local small and medium entrepreneurs should Malaysia join the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) spearheaded by the US.

The Klang MP who is opposed to the trade deal said that Malaysia’s small-medium enterprises (SME) would be pitted against multinational corporations (MNCs) and could be wiped out if there was no contingency plan.

“Once TPP takes effect in two years,  we will see MNCs competing against SMEs. How are our SMEs, with no budget for research and development and access to technology compete with MNCs?” he asked in a news conference here.

“It is like seeing Manchester United versus the Malaysia football team where you are already counting how many goals we are going to take in,” he said.

He urged the government to come up with an allocation to ensure SMEs are able to compete with the big players when the TPP takes effect.

On October 5, Malaysia and 11 other nations — US, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam — concluded negotiations on the TPP.

Like the 11 other countries that have to get the public to buy-in on the free trade deal, Malaysia has yet to sign and ratify the TPP which will be tabled in Parliament for debate and approval early next year.