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UK ready to boost CPTPP’s economic firepower
UK Secretary of State for Trade Policy in Vietnam as part of Southeast Asia visit as UK prepares to join CPTPP.
Mr. Greg Hands, Secretary of State for Trade Policy, UK Department of International Trade, arrived in Hanoi on February 1 for high-level trade talks on how the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will boost the economic firepower of the world’s most dynamic trade bloc.
As one of the founding members of the CPTPP, Vietnam was the first stop on Mr. Hands’ three-day Asia-Pacific visit, which includes Malaysia and Singapore.
“This visit will strengthen our bilateral relationships with Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore - fast-growing economies who, between them, do $36.9 billion worth of trade with the UK every year and represent huge opportunities for our life sciences and technology sectors,” Mr. Hands said about his visit. “Joining the CPTPP will add even more economic firepower to this exciting and dynamic trade alliance, adding $2.4 trillion to the CPTPP’s GDP.”
As a major economy and strong advocate of free trade, the UK’s membership of the CPTPP will help the trade bloc shape high standards for global trade, especially in the context of increased protectionism. Moreover, his visit underlines the UK’s post-Brexit shift to boost trade with the Indo-Pacific region, which is predicted to account for the majority of global growth by 2050.
Joining the CPTPP could result in 99 per cent of the UK’s exports being eligible for duty-free trade with CPTPP members. Participation would ensure lower tariffs on exports such as whiskey and automobiles, which are in high demand in the Pacific region.
Mr. Hands met Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh and expressed the UK’s wish to promptly complete its accession to the CPTPP. The visit is also an opportunity to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of UK-Vietnam diplomatic relations and discuss the growing bilateral trade relationship, which has increased 12.4 per cent compared with last year and is worth $7.4 billion.
During his time in Hanoi, Mr. Hands also spoke with Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien. They celebrated the growing partnership in the agri-food trade and broad agricultural cooperation, building on an MoU signed between the two countries’ agricultural ministries last year.
