The talks, which were engaged by more than 400negotiators from Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, Peru,Singapore, the US and Vietnam, advanced trade issues including taxcompetitiveness and supply chain integration.
Channel NewsAsiaquoted chief negotiators as saying the negotiators drafted an array ofagreements ranging from trade policies to legal services.
However, some issues, including intellectual property rights, governmentsubsidy for agriculture, e-commerce and environmental matters, have yetto conclude.
The first round of the TPP negotiations tookplace in Melbourne , Australia , in early 2010, with the aim ofexpanding the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) among New Zealand , Brunei ,Chile and Singapore to a trans-Pacific FTA.
The nextrounds of the TPP talks will be held in Vietnam in June, in the USin September and in Peru in October with the aim to reach a finalagreement at the Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) forum in the US in November.
The nine countriesinvolving in the TPP negotiations boast a combined GDP of 16 trillionUSD with a market of 472 million people. The ongoing agreement isconsidered one of the most ambitious economic integration pacts in theregion and the first deal to connect the Eastern and Western coasts ofthe Pacific./.