KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20, 2016: The interest shown by several countries in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will only be deliberated in 2018, the earliest date the trade pact is expected to come into force.
International Trade and Industry Ministry deputy secretary-general (strategy and monitoring) Datuk J. Jayasiri said the process of their inclusion in the accession negotiations would only be decided after the TPP came into force.
“The agreement could come into force by 2018 or after a minimum of six of the signatories, which made up 85% of the combined gross domestic product (2013), had ratified and notified New Zealand, the legal depository and administrator of the TPPA,” he told Bernama. Read more