“Next generation” free trade deals such as the recently forged Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) among 12 Pacific Rim countries are seen to bolster growth not only among partners but also across the bigger Asia-Pacific region, experts told Tuesday’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) CEO Forum.
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Ever since the completion and publication of the trade pact’s text the “noise” over it has died down quiet a bit, worldwide Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said.
He said protectionist measures among G20 countries have reached more than 100 this year alone and this proved negative to free flow of commodities.
It was important to consider the deal in the “clear light”, he said.
Relatively, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chunying said expansion of APEC economies will get additional boost from expanded free trade deals. Two US B-52 bombers were challenged by Chinese air controllers on a flight last week although the planes did not fly within 12 nautical miles of China’s artificial islands.
“Progress will be reviewed by ministers this afternoon and tomorrow”.
“TPP is at the heart of our shared vision for the future of this dynamic region”.
He explained that resistance to free trade deals is understandable but its benefits such as a level playing field should be considered.
The leaders will be discussing the next steps in the implementation of the TPP to ensure it is enacted as swiftly as possible.
For the United States, it marks President Obama’s pivot to Asia that a few have said is as much about geopolitics as it is about trade.CCTV America’s Jessica Stone reports.
“The politics of any trade agreement are hard”, Obama noted.
“We see (the) study as the way where we’ll be able to judge where all those are going, how they fit together, could they conflict with one another, and what might come to help integrate all that”, he added.
Obama and Trudeau will have their first face-to-face meeting on Thursday during the final day of the APEC summit. “We need to make sure that we’re connecting with the world”. “At the same time, however, the confidential fashion in which the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations were conducted is probably not the best way to facilitate sustainable growth in the Asia-Pacific region”.
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“To disassociate climate change and the economy, to have a classic discussion on the economy as if we didn’t have this problem, this relationship with the planet – it’s passe now”.
