About
On 11 April 2025, Member States of the European Free Trade Association – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – and Malaysia concluded an Economic Partnership Agreement. Further details can be found in a chapter-by-chapter fact sheet. The EFTA–Malaysia Economic Partnership Agreement (MEEPA) was signed at EFTA’s Ministerial meeting on 23 June 2025 in Tromsø, Norway.
The EFTA States and Malaysia signed a Joint Declaration on Cooperation in 2010 to further enhance their bilateral economic relations. Negotiations on the MEEPA were launched in November 2012 and a first negotiation round was held in Geneva in March 2014, followed by various expert meetings and 15 additional rounds, with a pause in negotiations between 2017 and 2020.
Key facts
- Population
35.1 million
- GDP
$ 407,027.45 M
- Date of Signature of the Agreement
23 June 2025
- Date of Entry Into Force
N/A
- Imports to EFTA States
EUR 1’094 million
- Exports from EFTA States
EUR 1’050 million
Information about agreement
Summary
The ambitious and broad-based Economic Partnership Agreement between the EFTA States and Malaysia (MEEPA) covers trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property rights, competition, trade remedies, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs and trade facilitation, government procurement, trade and sustainable development, and legal and horizontal provisions.
Trade between the Parties has grown consistently over the last five years, with exports from the EFTA States to Malaysia achieving an average annual growth rate of 6.5% and imports into EFTA from Malaysia growing by an average of 5.1% in the same period. In 2024, total trade between the EFTA States and Malaysia reached EUR 2 144 million, of which EUR 1 094 million was in imports from Malaysia and EUR 1 050 million in exports from the EFTA States.
The EFTA States signed a Joint Declaration on Cooperation with Malaysia on 20 July 2010. A meeting of the Joint Committee established under the Joint Declaration was held on 28 June 2011 in Kuala Lumpur.
Negotiations on the MEEPA were launched in November 2012. A first negotiation round was held from 25 to 28 March 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland, followed by various expert meetings and 15 more rounds of negotiations until November 2024. The negotiations were concluded in a meeting between Heads of Delegation from the EFTA States and Malaysia on 11 April 2025.
Ratification is pending.
Alongside the Economic Partnership Agreement, the EFTA States and Malaysia have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation and Capacity Building and a Joint Statement on Palm Oil.
Economic Partnership Agreement
Annexes
| Joint Statement on Sustainable Palm Oil |
Joint Declaration on Cooperation
Statistics
For EFTA-Malaysia trade statistics, see EFTA Trade Statistics Tool
