Viet Nam Human Rights
This was remarked in a joint statement issued on November 11th morning following the TPP Ministerial Meeting which took place within the framework of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in the central city of Da Nang on November 9th-10th, said Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.
Anh said at a press conference on November 11 that the 11 countries consented to push ahead with the trade pact without the United States which decided to abandon the deal.
Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh (L) and Japanese Minister of Economic Revitalisation Toshimitsu Motegi co-chair the press conference (Source: VNA)
The ministers agreed not to make amendments to the original text but freeze the implementation of some clauses to ensure balance and the quality of the document in the new context.
They said the CPTPP is a comprehensive and high-standard agreement on the basis of balancing interests of its member countries, with regard to their development levels.
Based on the statement, the ministers assigned chief negotiators to continue to work on contentious technical issues and conduct legal reviews in preparation for the signing of the pact, Anh said.
The outcomes of the meeting demonstrate great efforts made by the 11 TPP countries to spur economic development, generate jobs, improve people’s living standards, facilitate trade development, enhance regional economic ties and integrate into the world.
The trade pact was officially inked on February 4th, 2016 among 12 countries, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam. TPP is a new-generation free trade agreement with a high level of commitment covering trade and non-trade issues.
However, after taking the office in January 2017, US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw his country from the pact. The remaining TPP countries are working toward a new deal that can move forward without the US./.
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Hanoi—as the destination point for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial meeting in May and the APEC leaders’ summit in November—is well positioned to shape the future of the TPP.
Vietnam can use its role of APEC chair this year to facilitate the relaunch of the TPP by year’s end that proponents are aiming for. But its contribution to the TPP project runs much deeper.
Vietnam stands to enhance the value of the TPP in three ways. One is the demonstration effect that developing Asian countries can partake in a rules-heavy trade agreement such as the TPP.
Vietnam’s unique status as the only non-market economy participating in the TPP also advances a central rule-making goal: to codify disciplines that restrain state capitalism practices that are not covered well by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Vietnam could become an important showcase of the impact that trade and investment rules can have in leveling the playing field in economies where state-owned enterprises are dominant.
Securing Vietnam’s participation in the TPP 2.0 should be a high priority.
But how to rework the agreement comes down, still, to influence from the United States.
Many countries were not enthusiastic about the intellectual property rights and labor clauses in the original TPP agreement, since it tended to favor U.S. interests, despite some compromise in the end to reach agreement.
Future politicians in Washington will face the same pressure from business in far future.
Countries have settle the risk of angering future U.S. leadership as they work toward a new TPP draft at the APEC meeting in Vietnam.
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