Trans-Pacific Partnership hopes to benefit Pacific
Updated
United States President Barack Obama has thrown his weight behind using the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a way of bringing countries of the Asia-Pacific region into a free trade agreement. President Obama made his announcement on the eve of the APEC meeting in Singapore over the weekend.
Australia will host the first negotiating session for the Trans-Pacific Partnership in March next year.
has been looking at what form the Trans-Pacific Partnership will take and what it means for Pacific countries.
Presenter: Jemima Garrett
Speaker: Andrew Stoler, Executive Director of Adelaide University's Institute for International Trade; Biman Prasad, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of the South Pacific
GARRETT: With the announcement of US support the Trans-Pacific Partnership, has now taken over as the main free trade game within APEC.
The partnership was started by New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei and Chile back in 2006. Since then Australia and Vietnam have also shown support.
Australia's Trade Minister Simon Crean says the the Trans-Pacific Partnership will define what is a modern 21st centruy trade agreement . He welcomed President Obama's announcement as providing the critical mass to allow the initiative to go forward.
Andrew Stoler, Executive Director of Adelaide University's Intstitute for International Trade, says the Trans-Pacific Partnership or P4 has gone from humble beginnings to offer a stepping-stone approach to building an Asia Pacific Free Trade Agreement.
STOLER: The Trans-Pacific Partnership was actually designed as a sort of an experiment in moving towards a broader trans-Pacific arrangement that would include most if not all of the APEC countries.
GARRETT: So how much potential do you see in this initiative for speeding up moves to free trade?
STOLER: Well if you get the major countries involved like the United States and China and some of the other big heavyweights in the APEC area you could really make a major contribution to liberalising global trade.
GARRETT: Andrew Stoller says for Pacific Island countries the most immediate free trade issue is the negotiation of the PACER Plus agreement with Australia and New Zealand.
Biman Prasad from the University of the South Pacific says the Trans Pacific Partnership is an important idea that can be considered hand-in hand with PACER Plus.
PRASAD: I don't think that this concept of Trans-Pacific Partnership should affect in a significant way how the negotiations move within PACER Plus.
GARRETT: What do you think the benefits or pitfalls might be for the Pacific countries in getting involved with the Trans-Pacific Partnership?
PRASAD: Because it's still evolving and if Pacific Island countries who have been trying to get into the Asian market and develop better and deeper trade relations with some of those countries may find that there is room for them to engage through this Trans-Pacific Partnership and perhaps drive better results. But all this as you realise is up in the air and things will evolve over a period of time, but the point is that Pacific Island countries ought to be aware of what's going to happen in that area and what sort of ideas and what sort of strategies would be put in place by Australia and New Zealand to develop that Trans-Pacific Partnership further.
GARRETT: Biman Prasad, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of the South Pacific.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is not an exclusive trade agreement. Andrew Stoler says over time Papua New Guinea and other Pacific Island countries should be able to join.
STOLER: The P4 is specifically designed to provide for accession of additional countries and to make that relatively easy, and there's no requirements that you have to be an APEC member in order to join on to it.
GARRETT: Fiji won't now be involved in the PACER agreement because of its failure to meet the Pacific Island Forum's deadlines on the return of democracy. Is this another option for Fiji in terms of boosting its international trade links?
STOLER: Well I don't know, I think probably although we try not to mix politics and economics too much these days, I think probably the others would not be encouraging, New Zealand certainly wouldn't be encouraging Fiji to join the P4 agreement if they are eager to promote return of democracy in Fiji.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is NOT an exclusive Trade agreement
Andrew Stoler, says, over time, Papua New Guinea and other Pacific Island countries should be able to join.
