The Republic of Korea (RoK) will submit an official application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in April next year, said Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki. According to the minister, the RoK will accelerate the process of collecting public opinions and building social consensus.
He said that a task force composed of relevant ministries will discuss the impact of the joining and contact member countries of the CPTPP, while pushing to submit an official application to accede to the trade agreement in the middle of April.
CPTPP members include 11 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The signatories have combined economies representing 13.4% of global GDP, at approximately 13.5 trillion USD, making the CPTPP one of the world’s largest free-trade areas by GDP.
Source: VOV5