The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministerial Meeting opened in Singapore on December 7 with the participation of trade ministers and officials from the 12 TPP parties.

At plenary sessions held daily from December 7-10, besides tackling issues such as trade liberalisation in goods, services, investments, and government procurement, the delegates will discuss areas such as intellectual property rights, technical barriers to trade, labour and environment, agriculture, investment, financial services, telecommunications and State-owned enterprises.

At the first plenary on December 7, the trade ministers of Singapore, Canada and New Zealand; the vice ministers of Chile and Japan; the TPP chief negotiators of Australia, Brunei, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and Vietnam; and the US Trade Representative at the TPP Ministerial Meeting discussed issues relating to goods and e-commerce.

Bilateral meetings will also be held during the four-day conference.

All the 12 TPP countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US, and Vietnam are also members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

With the admission of Japan in July 2013, the TPP members account for nearly 40 percent of global GDP and about one-third of all world trade.

VNA