SINGAPORE, April 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's heavyweight sectors, namely manufacturing, telecommunication and electronics sectors are set to benefit significantly from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), said former ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan today.

He said the ability of ASEAN countries to join the TPP depended on their uniqueness and economic position even before joining the trade pact.

"Malaysia definitely will make use of the membership to attract more trade and investment inflows in the areas that the country is very strong, such as telecommunication, electronics and manufacturing," Surin said during a trade session on the sidelines of Invest ASEAN 2016 here, today.

He was responding to a question from the floor on whether there would be winners and specific sectors that would benefit from the TPP implementation.

Other sectors including Singapore's services and financial sector are likely to benefit once trade under the TPP flourished.

Surin also pointed out the need for Brunei to diversify its one-commodity economy should oil prices again enter a volatility phase.

"Brunei is one-commodity economy. So when that sector is in a disarray, the country would want to diversify itself into manufacturing based or go into services sector more than before," he said.

He also stressed on the importance of ASEAN members not to divert their focus from driving and leveraging on the ASEAN Economic Community.

-- BERNAMA