Vietnam highly appreciated in TPP negotiations

(VOV) -Vietnam has shown its flexibility and held its clear view in bilateral and multilateral negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministerial Meeting held recently in Singapore.

Pham Quynh Mai, an official of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), said MoIT Minister Vu Huy Hoang attended all sessions of the February 22-25 meeting and Vietnam’s view was acknowledged by all TPP members.

Despite all-out efforts, participating parties did not reach consensus on a number of issues, including intellectual property, market access, and State-owned enterprise restructuring, Mai said.

The TPP pact aims for total trade liberalization, with 100% of import tariffs to be slashed. Over 90% of the tariffs will be cut as soon as the agreement comes into effect.

However, some countries such as the US and Japan are dickering on tax reduction and product protection matters. Only when negotiations on these issues are attained, can negotiations move forward. 

With Canada, Japan and Mexico joining the trade pact, experts say negotiations will last longer than expected.  

TPP will bring economic benefit to all 12 participating countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US, and Vietnam.

Source: VOV