March 06, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 16, 1428

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5: Malaysia will finalise this week its stance on 58 outstanding issues that bogged down free trade talks with the US last month, the trade minister said on Monday.

Rafidah Aziz was quoted by the official Bernama news agency as saying a final decision will be made at the cabinet's weekly meeting this Wednesday.

She asked various ministries to review the issues after talks became deadlocked in February. She said the ministries will present their respective reports to cabinet.

"Each ministry would provide their specific stand on the matter and this would be discussed by the cabinet. The conclusion drawn would be Malaysia's stand when discussing the issue during negotiations," Rafidah said.

The two countries have held five rounds of talks for a free trade agreement (FTA), but negotiations have bogged down over the 58 unresolved issues and no further rounds have been scheduled.

Rafidah has said sensitive or "no-go" issues, including Malaysia's positive discrimination policies for its majority ethnic Malays, would be excluded from the next round of negotiations.

She has not elaborated on the nature of the 58 contentious issues except to say they involved the ministries of trade, agriculture, labour, science and technology, finance and environment.

On Monday, she said the cabinet will also consider any other options that Malaysia can take. She did not elaborate.—AFP