Monday May 24, 2004

WTO blacklist likely if piracy not stopped

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia risks being blacklisted by the World Trade Organisation as a centre of piracy if the problem is left unchecked.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal said: “This will result in the inability of our economy to compete globally.”

Consumers must realise that piracy could jeopardise the economy, he said in his speech read out by the ministry's parliamentary secretary Hoo Seong Chang when he opened the latest Peugeot Blue Box outlet in Jalan Ipoh here.

On a possible ripple effect of the recent price hike in petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas, Hoo said his officers had not seen an increase in prices of goods since the price increase.