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The latest round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations concluded on Thursday, as negotiators admitted that tough issues remained to be solved despite progress.
Negotiators from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam have gathered in Malaysia's resort city of Kota Kinabalu for the 18th round of TPP negotiations since July 15 as they rush towards the deadline to conclude deal by this year.
They were joined by Japanese officials on Tuesday as the country became the 12th TPP negotiating partner.
Japan's participation increased TPP's significance as the bloc now owns a market of 790 million people with a combined GDP of 27 trillion US dollars and one third of global trade, but it also add to the complexity of the negotiations.
The negotiators said in a joint statement that "although significant progress was made, there are still a number of issues that require further work."
"We are entering a stage where negotiators have to deal with the more difficult and sensitive issues," the statement said.
When asked about the time frame of the negotiations, Malaysia's chief negotiator J. Jayasiri insisted that all the negotiators are working hard to meet the deadline set by their leaders.
The 19th round of TPP negotiations is scheduled to be held in late August in Brunei.
July 25, 2013
Source: Global Times CN
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