Amid the complicated development of Covid-19, the CPTPP deal makes positive contributions to the recovery of the economy, trade, and supply chains in a world that has been severely affected by the pandemic, ministers from the CPTPP member countries including Vietnam affirmed.

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien attends the virtual ministerial-level talks. Photo: baocongthuong

The virtual ministerial-level talk to review the implementation of the CPTPP was attended by ministers and senior officials from  Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The event was hosted by the Japanese Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Nishimura Yasutoshi on September 1.

The Vietnamese delegation, led by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, participated in the meeting and put forth many ideas, contributing to the overall success of the meeting.

At the meeting, the ministers stressed they will maintain and strengthen the multilateral trade system with a focus on the World Trade Organization (WTO), and pledged to work closely with other WTO members at the upcoming 12th Ministerial Conference.

The ministers discussed the expansion of the CPTPP and agreed to hold the first working group meeting to discuss the UK’s entry. 

The ministers expected the UK to be ready to fully comply with all obligations of the CPTPP and believed the completion of the UK accession may have great importance in allowing the CPTPP rules to apply beyond the Asia-Pacific region.

In addition, the ministers also emphasized that any economy that is ready to meet the high standards and ambitious market-opening commitments of the CPTPP is welcome to join the deal.

At the end of the meeting, the ministers approved the decision on the establishment of the subcommittee on e-commerce and the Joint Ministerial Statement.

The 6th meeting chaired by Singapore is expected to be held in mid-2022.