Various Sources –
On October 4, 2015, Ministers of the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries including Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States of America and Vietnam announced conclusion of their negotiations.
According to a joint press release, the result is a high-standard, ambitious, comprehensive, and balanced Agreement that will promote economic growth; support the creation and retention of jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in our countries; and promote transparency, good governance, and enhanced labor and environmental protections.
“We envision conclusion of this Agreement, with its new and high standards for trade and investment in the Asia Pacific, as an important step toward our ultimate goal of open trade and regional integration across the region,” a joint communique said.
Benefits to Members
“After more than five years of intensive negotiations, we have come to an Agreement that will support jobs, drive sustainable growth, foster inclusive development, and promote innovation across the Asia-Pacific region. Most importantly, the Agreement achieves the goal we set forth of an ambitious, comprehensive, high standard and balanced Agreement that will benefit our nation’s citizens.
“TPP brings higher standards to nearly 40% of the global economy. In addition to liberalising trade and investment between us, the Agreement addresses the challenges our stakeholders face in the 21st century, while taking into account the diversity of our levels of development. We expect this historic Agreement to promote economic growth, support higher-paying jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in our countries; and to promote transparency, good governance, and strong labour and environmental protections.
“To formalise the outcomes of the Agreement, negotiators will continue technical work to prepare a complete text for public release, including the legal review, translation, and drafting and verification of the text. We look forward to engaging with stakeholders on the specific features of this Agreement and undergoing the domestic processes to put the Agreement in place,” the Communique said.
Significant advantages
Prime Minister John Key said that the Agreement will deliver significant benefits supporting more jobs, higher incomes, and provide a better standard of living for New Zealanders.
“It will give our exporters much better access to a market of more than 800 million customers in 11 countries, and will help New Zealand firms to build and diversify their businesses overseas. TPP is New Zealand’s biggest ever Free Trade Agreement (FTA). It means New Zealand will now have FTAs covering our top five trading partners including China, Australia, the United States, Japan and Korea,” he said.
According to him, TPP will contribute at least $2.7 billion to our economy by 2030 and save our exporters around $259 million a year in tariffs.
“Trade is incredibly important to New Zealand. As a country, we won’t get rich selling things to ourselves. Instead, we need to sell more of our products and services to customers around the world, and TPP will help make that happen. Many concerns raised previously about TPP are not reflected in the final Agreement,” he said.
Key Features
Five defining features make the Trans-Pacific Partnership a landmark 21st-century Agreement, setting a new standard for global trade while taking up next-generation issues.
These are (a) Comprehensive market access (b) Regional approach to commitments (c) Addressing new trade challenges (d) Inclusive trade and (e) Platform for regional integration.
According to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade notification, TPP is intended as a platform for regional economic integration and designed to include additional economies across the Asia Pacific region.
Global access
“TPP will give New Zealand better access to globally significant markets. It will diversify New Zealand’s trade and investment relationships, and provide a platform to build on the $28 billion of New Zealand goods and services exported to TPP countries in 2014.
“New Zealand’s future is as a trading nation. TPP will help support that by setting a new standard for trade and investment in the Asia Pacific region, generating substantial long-term economic and strategic benefits for New Zealand,” the notification said.
“TPP will be open to future expansion. It provides a platform for wider, regional economic integration, and supports the foundation for a free trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific. This gives New Zealand the opportunity to shape future trade liberalisation in the Asia Pacific region and promote the growth of regional supply chains.
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