Minister Lim Hng Kiang's reply to Parliament Questions on the Progress of TPP and RCEP Negotiations

Question

Assoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) if he will provide an update on the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP); (b) what are the prospects for China to be included in the TPP and the USA in the RCEP before negotiations are concluded; and (c) what Singapore can do to facilitate making the RCEP and TPP more inclusive.

Oral Reply by Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry

Both the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are envisioned as high-quality agreements to deepen regional economic integration. They serve as possible pathways to an eventual Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).

Updates on TPP and RCEP negotiations

TPP negotiations started in March 2010 and there have been 19 formal negotiating rounds to date. The last TPP Ministerial was held in Singapore in December 2013. The Ministers had a good discussion on the potential way forward for many outstanding issues in the text. TPP ministers will be meeting again this month (22 – 25 February 2014) and we expect further progress to be made.

The RCEP negotiations only commenced in May 2013. The third round of negotiations was recently held in Kuala Lumpur (20 – 24 January 2014).  Negotiations on a broad range of issues under the scope of the proposed agreement are thus still at a relatively early stage. The fourth negotiating round will be held in China in April 2014.

Prospects for China in TPP and USA in RCEP

Both the TPP and RCEP are designed to be open and inclusive agreements. Any APEC economy interested to join the TPP, including China, will have to initiate and complete bilateral consultations with existing TPP Parties and secure a consensus agreement for its membership. However, as negotiations intensify and TPP Parties focus on finalising the agreement, prospective members will have less time to conclude those consultations. Nonetheless, as the world’s second largest economy and a key link in the Asia Pacific’s supply chains, China can contribute to regional economic integration should it decide to join the TPP.

As for RCEP, negotiations currently involve ASEAN and its FTA partners (China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia-New Zealand) in the first instance.   Other interested economic partners will be able to join the RCEP following the conclusion of negotiations.

Singapore’s facilitative role

Singapore plays an active role in the negotiations to secure our economic interests. We also contribute where we can to facilitate the process. For example, Singapore hosted the TPP Ministerial Meeting in December 2013, and earlier negotiating Rounds (Round 16 in March 2013 and Round 6 in March 2010). Singapore will also host the TPP Ministerial Meeting in February 2014.

Singapore meets with interested countries to share about the TPP and RCEP process. Indeed, the TPP started out as the P4¹ FTA, otherwise known as the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPSEP), comprising Singapore, Brunei, Chile and New Zealand. Singapore, together with the founding members, actively brought onboard other like-minded countries, starting with the USA in 2008. Today, there are 12 members in the TPP.

Both the TPP and RCEP are important agreements that will further liberalise trade and facilitate regional economic integration, promote growth and create jobs. As we work expeditiously towards their conclusion, Singapore remains firmly guided by the need to ensure that these plurilateral FTAs contribute towards strengthening the multilateral trading system. In this way, we reaffirm rather than detract from the primacy of global free trade.

¹ “P4” stands for “Pacific 4”. Conceived by Singapore in 2003, together with Chile and New Zealand, as a pathway to trade liberalization across the wider Asia-Pacific region, the TPSEP came into force in 2006, with Brunei joining the negotiations in 2005. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) came about when the USA joined the P4 in 2008.