The final version of the TPP was released this morning. After more than a year of renegotiation, the release seems like a bit of an anticlimax—the whole “text” is 9 pages. This does understate the issue, of course, since the entire original agreement is now incorporated by reference. The eleven country members are meeting in Chile on March 8 for signature. TPP11 is now on track to begin later this year. Firms should no longer delay. The benefits on offer are substantial. See our latest booklet on how to prepare. For regular readers of Talking Trade, I’m delighted to report that you already knew what the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) contains.
Organizing Business: The Launch of the Asia Business Trade Association (ABTA)
As Bloomberg reported yesterday, rising trade tensions have made it more imperative than ever that companies remain engaged in crafting sensible trade and regulatory policies. Getting that job done, however, is unusually challenging in Asia. While there are many excellent organizations at different levels in the region—within some individual countries, across ASEAN and within APEC—what has been lacking is an institutional framework to collectively gather business input from Asia as a whole. Hence the need for a new grouping—the Asia Business Trade Association (ABTA). ABTA is a non-profit society, registered out of Singapore, to unite large and small firms from all across Asia in crafting a collective voice for companies on trade and regulatory issues.