(VOVworld) – Chief negotiators of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement concluded their secret summit on Monday (local time) in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the US. This round was of great importance as negotiators are attempting to narrow their differences prior to the decisive TPP ministers’ meeting in Singapore next month. 1000 negotiators showed up in Utah for the supplementary negotiation after a 19th round of talks in Brunei in August, scheduled as the last round, failed to resolve their disagreements. The TPP ministers will take its outcomes as an important reference to decide whether or not an agreement is achievable this year.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh, Vietnam’s chief negotiator, said the most significant outcome achieved at the Utah talks was a consensus on intellectual property rights. However, the discussion of goods circulation, a key issue for Vietnam and many other TPP members, was inconclusive, and will be high on the agenda of next month’s TPP minister’s meeting.
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Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh, Vietnam’s chief negotiator
(Photo: VOV) |
Khanh told reporters:"Negotiators showed their good will so progress was seen in even complicated topics like intellectual property rights, state-owned enterprises, labor, and the environment. The next ministers’ meeting will decide whether negotiations can conclude this year. I think it’s unlikely to achieve a comprehensive document ready to be signed. But an agreement by ministers which is the core for negotiators to compose a final document is possible if participants have enough effort and concession."
The 12-member TPP, which includes the US, Japan, Australia, and Vietnam, will generate 40% of the world GDP and about one-third of total global trade.