Govt to hold preliminary talks on TPP pact with US
The Trade Negotiations Depart-ment will today(Monday) discuss with the US Trade Representative (USTR) and local exporters the possibility of negotiating Thai entry into the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, as this pact could be a model fo
The director-general of the department, Srirat Rastapana, said an assistant to USTR Barbara Wiesel will today hold a videoconference with the department to exchange information on the progress of the TPP.
“TPP partners are scheduled to announce the results of their negotiations during the Apec Summit in this September. Thailand needs to clarify its status on whether to join the pact as the TPP will be a negotiation model for the Free Trade Area for Asia-Pacific [FTAAP] and Asean plus platforms,” said Srirat.
She said that as most countries in the TPP are members of Apec, the TPP will be a key model to encourage the Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (RCEP) involving Asean plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
Thailand urgently needs to |consider whether to the pact as |the TPP negotiations will con-|cluded soon, she added.
Since 2010, the US has negotiated 12 rounds of talks with eight potential TPP members: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Cooperation under the TPP would include trade in goods, services and investment, as well as trade competition, good governance and intellectual property rights.
The 20 member states of Apec plan to start free-trade talks in 2020.
