ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh has affirmed that theparticipation of ASEAN member countries in both the Trans-PacificPartnership (TPP) and the recently commenced Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP) will not adversely impact the regionalintegration process.
Four ASEAN members currentlyin the TPP negotiations are Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei andVietnam, and there has been interest shown by other member states, suchas the Philippines, Thailand and Laos. ASE AN dialoguepartners, including Japan, Australia and New Zealand are alsoparticipants in the negotiations.
The "BusinessTimes" quoted the Secretary General as saying at a media briefingfollowing the 45th ASEAN Economic Ministers ( AEM -45) summit andrelated meetings in Brunei on Aug. 21 that, "We consider theirparticipation as mutually complementary, rather than conflicting. Wehope both talks will progress well."
BesidesASEAN's 10 members, the RCEP also involves free trade agreementpartners, namely China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australiaand New Zealand, while the TPP includes Canada, Chile, Peru,Mexico, the US and Japan.
The 19th round of the TPPwill commence on August 22 and ends on August 30. For the first twodays, trade ministers of ASE AN countries will also be in attendance.
Meanwhile, Brunei's Second Foreign Affairs and TradeMinister Lim Jock Seng said ASEAN will be negotiating a free tradeagreement with Hong Kong (China) and talks are set to start inearly 2014./-VNA
Four ASEAN members currentlyin the TPP negotiations are Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei andVietnam, and there has been interest shown by other member states, suchas the Philippines, Thailand and Laos. ASE AN dialoguepartners, including Japan, Australia and New Zealand are alsoparticipants in the negotiations.
The "BusinessTimes" quoted the Secretary General as saying at a media briefingfollowing the 45th ASEAN Economic Ministers ( AEM -45) summit andrelated meetings in Brunei on Aug. 21 that, "We consider theirparticipation as mutually complementary, rather than conflicting. Wehope both talks will progress well."
BesidesASEAN's 10 members, the RCEP also involves free trade agreementpartners, namely China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australiaand New Zealand, while the TPP includes Canada, Chile, Peru,Mexico, the US and Japan.
The 19th round of the TPPwill commence on August 22 and ends on August 30. For the first twodays, trade ministers of ASE AN countries will also be in attendance.
Meanwhile, Brunei's Second Foreign Affairs and TradeMinister Lim Jock Seng said ASEAN will be negotiating a free tradeagreement with Hong Kong (China) and talks are set to start inearly 2014./-VNA
