Malaysia Mulls Further Liberalisation Of Legal Services
The Malaysian Bar is considering the potential to further liberalise the legal sector where currently foreign players are limited to Labuan, said the International Trade and Industry Minister, Rafidah Aziz during the opening of Zaid Ibrahim & Co's overseas office in Bangkok on 8 March 2007.
The Minister was reported as saying that the move was necessary in view of the increased economic activity in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) where international legal expertise were sought.
She said Malaysia has made market access commitments in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for a number of services sectors, adding that revised offers were tabled in December, 2005 and current domestic consultations were on-going to further improve the country's offer.
On legal services, she said Malaysia's existing offer under the Doha Round allowed for foreign lawyers to establish a limited liability partnership registered in Labuan where they could provide legal advice on home country law, international law and offshore corporations of Malaysia to offshore corporations registered there.
In this increasingly globalised environment, Malaysian and other Asean service providers should seek out strategic partnership to further increase their competitiveness in exporting services abroad and tap the global legal services market estimated at US$20 billion (RM68 billion) annually, she said.
The Minister elaborated that such partnerships would further increase competitiveness in exporting services such as the legal services sector had shown continuous growth in international trade, largely due to the emergence of new fields of practice such as privatisation, cross-border M&A and new financial instruments.
The Minister was reported as saying that the move was necessary in view of the increased economic activity in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) where international legal expertise were sought.
She said Malaysia has made market access commitments in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for a number of services sectors, adding that revised offers were tabled in December, 2005 and current domestic consultations were on-going to further improve the country's offer.
On legal services, she said Malaysia's existing offer under the Doha Round allowed for foreign lawyers to establish a limited liability partnership registered in Labuan where they could provide legal advice on home country law, international law and offshore corporations of Malaysia to offshore corporations registered there.
In this increasingly globalised environment, Malaysian and other Asean service providers should seek out strategic partnership to further increase their competitiveness in exporting services abroad and tap the global legal services market estimated at US$20 billion (RM68 billion) annually, she said.
The Minister elaborated that such partnerships would further increase competitiveness in exporting services such as the legal services sector had shown continuous growth in international trade, largely due to the emergence of new fields of practice such as privatisation, cross-border M&A and new financial instruments.
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