Vietnam attends TPP free trade discussions in Singapore

More than 600 delegates from the 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership countries, including Vietnam, are in Singapore for Round 16 of TPP free trade discussions, which kicked off on March 4.

More than 600 delegates from the 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries, including Vietnam, are in Singapore for Round 16 of TPP free trade discussions, which kicked off on March 4.

Process farm produce for export

The Vietnamese delegation is headed by Tran Quoc Khanh, Vice Minister of Industry and Trade and Head of the Government Negotiation Team on International Trade and Economic Integration.

According to Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, about 300 stakeholders comprising representatives from businesses, academies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from around the world have registered to attend the Stakeholders’ Forum on March 6 as well as various seminars and panel discussion sessions throughout the round.

All 11 TPP parties, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam, are members of the Asia - Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Presently, the countries have a combined GDP of about 21 trillion USD, accounting for over 50 percent of the total GDP of APEC’s 21 members.

This round of TPP free trade discussions is expected to last till March 13. Three negotiating rounds are scheduled this year prior to the October 2013 APEC summit in Indonesia.