Nazir Razak: "TPPA terms must cater to Malaysia's needs"

He said while the TPPA provided the ability to enter into new markets, Malaysia must be careful of the conditions that comes with it, particularly as the country has unique ways of doing business.

"It is important that when you enter into negotiations, you are willing to walk away if it is not right," he told reporters after delivering a talk at the CIMB-Universiti Tun Abdul Razak leadership series here today.

On CIMB Group's expansion in the Philippines after scrapping a deal to buy a controlling stake in a bank there, he said, "We will look at other opportunities to enter Philippines but there is no rush."

In India and South Korea, he said there were no further expansion plans in those countries.

"We just opened an equities operations in those two markets," he said.

On Bank Negara Malaysia's new regulations on housing loan as a means of tightening lending, Nazir said it was consistent with what regulators are doing across the region.