- Title: TRADE-TPP/KERRY Kerry confident of concluding TPP trade pact this year
- Date: 7th August 2015
- Summary: HANOI, VIETNAM (AUGUST 7, 2015) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY WALKING WITH A CANE ONTO STAGE WITH VIETNAMESE FOREIGN MINISTER PHAM BINH MINH (SOUNDBITE) (English) SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY SAYING: "I think a lot of progress was made at the last round of talks. I think there are a few remaining issues, we will discu
- Embargoed: 22nd August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Vietnam
- Country: Vietnam
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVADESFO37XHWRFV8A6W05XNIRT4
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- Story Text: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence on Friday (August 7) that an ambitious Pacific trade pact could be completed this year and said a recent nuclear deal with Iran proved hurdles in international agreements could be overcome.
Kerry said many challenges remained in thrashing out a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), particularly on issues of autos and dairy, but the United States would do everything in its power to make it happen.
"I think a lot of progress was made at the last round of talks. I think there are a few remaining issues, we will discuss them today. There is one or so with respect to Vietnam. But I think another couple of countries had some issues which they were not able to resolve in the final hours, but which I am confident will be resolved in the next days," Kerry told a joint news conference with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi.
"We are hoping very much that over the course of the next couple of months, before the end of the year, TPP can be completed," he said.
The U.S.-inspired TPP is a "mega regional" accord set to cover 12 countries with a combined gross domestic product of $28 trillion, among them Australia and Japan. The TPP would connect the 12 economies by cutting trade barriers and harmonising standards covering two-fifths of the world economy and a third of global trade.
Kerry recognised there were challenges dealing with different national economies, but stressed that the TPP was an opportunity to improve the standards of business in the region and be beneficial to participating countries.
"TPP is an opportunity to raise the business standards of the entire region. We believe that what it will create is a movement to the top rather than the bottom of business practices and of engagement between countries. We are very confident about the commitment of countries to this effort. But it's always difficult to work through one particular sector of an economy or another," he said.
"I am very very confident that TPP is going to boost trade, improve worker standards, improve environment standards, have a consequence of really raising the standards of business of 40 per cent of the global economy and for that reason I am absolutely confident that ultimately it is not only going to be agreed to among the nations, but it will be accepted and ratified by the participating countries," he added.
Vietnam's export-dominated economy could be among the biggest beneficiaries of the TPP because of its farm and fisheries resources, cheap labour and growing manufacturing sector, especially in textiles, footwear, telephones and televisions. Among its investors are Samsung, LG and Microsoft.
Vietnam has some lingering concerns on TPP, including issues related to labour, which Kerry said could be settled.
TPP trade ministers discussing the pact, which would stretch from Japan to Chile, have said an agreement is within reach, despite the failure last week to settle differences at talks in Hawaii. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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