Chief negotiators from the 11 signatories of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) (Source: Kyodo)Hanoi (VNA) -Chief negotiators from the 11 signatories of the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreedon July 19 to start accession talks with potential newcomers in 2019, after thetrade pact takes effect.
The consensus was reachedat a meeting in the hot-spring resort of Hakone, Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture, onJuly 18-19, which took place amidst growing concerns about the trade war and riseof protectionism.
The negotiators checked eachmember’s progress towards completing domestic procedures to ratify the trade dealand discussed the future expansion of the CPTPP membership.
The pact will take effect60 days after at least six countries have completed their domestic procedures.Japan, Mexico, and Singapore have already ended their ratification processes,with three more – namely Australia, New Zealand, and Vietnam – likely to followsuit by the end of the year.
Thailand, Indonesia, Colombia,the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan (China) have all expressed interest in joiningthe CPTPP.
In addition, Britain hasalso shown interest, with Trade Minister Liam Fox saying on July 18 that thecountry will broach the issue with the public.
On July 19, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga hailed the UK’sinterest, adding that Japan is ready to share any pertinent information.
However, new membersinterested in joining will likely be required to accept what have already beennegotiated by the existing 11 members, for example intellectual property.
Theoriginal Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was signed by 12 countries in February2016 but US President Donald Trump pulled his country from the deal upon hisinauguration in January 2017.
The remaining 11 countries – namely Australia,Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore,and Vietnam – signed the pact and renamed it the CPTPP in March 2018 in Chile.
The pact is expected to boost economic growth,create more jobs, reduce poverty, and improve the quality of life for people inmember countries.
It will create one of the world’s largest freetrade blocs with a combined market of 499 million people and a GDP of around10.1 trillion USD, accounting for 13.5 percent of the global GDP. -VNA
VNA
