Mexico (VNA) – A group of trade representatives of the Trans-Pacific Pꦓartnership (TPP) members in Mexico will be set up in an effort to boost trade t🐲ies with the host country.

Under an initiative by Vietnam, the group will be responsible for holding seminar and business forums between the ten TPP member states making their presence in Mexico and the host country. Vietnam’s initiative was discussed at the meeting on July 15 with the participation of ten commercial counsellors and commercials attachés from Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Peru and Vietnam. The group will also work with state agencies, associations and trade offices in Mexico with regard to the trade deal or economic, trade and investment issues and exchanged information between the members of the group. All TPP countries, except for Brunei, have established the trade presence in Mexico, including, Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. According to Mexico’s Secretariat of Economy, trade between Mexico and other eleven TPP member states totalled 557.55 billion USD in 2015, representing 71.87 percent of its foreign trade. Mexico exported to its TPP partners 327.94 billion USD worth of commodities, accounting for 86.16 percent of the total export revenue while its imports from the partners exceeded 229.7 billion USD, or 58.12 percent of the total import revenue. Vietnam is currently the fifth largest trade partner of Mexico among the TPP members with bilateral trade reaching 3.86 billion USD in 2015. The TPP was concluded on October 5, 2015 after seven years of negotiation. It was signed on February 4, 2016 and is in the process of being ratified by each member state. The ratification procedures will take about two years. The TPP members will account for 30 percent of global trade and about 40 percent of the world’s economy.-VNA