Chile ready for CPTPP signing ceremony

Ministers of 11 countries agreed on the core elements of the CPTPP at their conference in Danang, Vietnam, November 11, 2017 - Photo: People’s Army Newspaper

Trade ministers of other countries negotiating the trade pact, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, will attend the event.

CPTPP was launched a year ago after the US withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. It sets high criteria in numerous fields, including labour, the environment, intellectual property, digital economy and cyber security.

Twenty-two provisions of the CPTPP, including sensitive ones related to intellectual property, were suspended or changed in comparison to the TPP.

The pact is expected to facilitate for the promotion of economic growth and job generation, poverty reduction, and improvement of people’s living conditions.

It will be a strong message against protectionism, while proving that an opening economy will benefit member nations, according to experts.

The pact, once signed, will create one of the world’s largest free trade blocs with a combined market of 463 million people and GDP of around US$10,000 billion, accounting for 13 percent of the global GDP.

It will bring about important commitments involved in non-tariff barriers, services, investment and other fields.

The pact will come into force 60 days after it is fully ratified by six of the 11 members.

According to New Zealand Trade Minister David Parker, the deal would give Kiwi businesses preferential access to Japan - the third biggest economy in the world - Canada, Mexico and Peru for the first time.

The deal had also "increased in importance because of growing threats to the effective operation of the World Trade Organization", he said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of NZ estimates, the deal is expected to give a US$1.2 billion to US$4b boost to New Zealand's real gross domestic product.

This included almost US$86 million in expected tariff savings for the dairy industry, while the country's exporters would save about US$200m in reduced tariffs to Japan alone.