The Minister for Trade and Competitiveness of Australia, Dr Craig Emerson hosted a reception for the stakeholders and delegates of the 11th Round Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations. The reception was held at the ANZ Centre, 833 Collins Street, Melbourne and saw the attendance of more than 250 people. Dr Mohamad Rameez was also invited at the reception and he met with the Malaysian delegation (comprised of 60 officials from more than 15 Government Agencies/Ministries). The Malaysian delegation is headed by Mr Jayasiri, Senior Director of MITI.
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations began in March 2010. Current membership includes Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States and Viet Nam. Malaysia participated as a full negotiating member at the third round of negotiations from 4 – 9 October 2010 in Brunei. Ten rounds of negotiations have been held so far i.e. First round: 15 – 18 March 2010, Melbourne, Australia; Second round: 14 – 18 June 2010, San Francisco, US; Third round: 4 – 9 October 2010, Brunei Darussalam, Brunei; Fourth round: 6 – 10 December 2010, Auckland, New Zealand; Fifth round: 14 – 18 February 2011, Santiago, Chile; Sixth round: 24 March - 1 April 2011, Singapore; Seventh round: 20 – 24 June 2011, Viet Nam; Eighth round: 6 – 15 September 2011, US; Ninth round: 19 – 28 October 2011, Lima, Peru; and Tenth round: 5 – 9 December, 2011, Kuala Lumpur. The 11th Round is currently taking place at the Melbourne Convention Centre, South Warf. It commenced last week on the 1st March and will end this Friday, 9th March 2012.
The TPP is viewed as the precursor to the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). There are 20 Working Groups in the negotiations and five (5) additional rounds have been scheduled in 2012 inclusive the 11th round in Melbourne. Other 4 rounds would be:-
12th Round 8 – 16 May 2012, Venue: US (Exact Venue TBC)
13th Round 2 – 10 July 2012, Venue: US (Exact Venue TBC)
14th Round 24 September – 3 October 2012, Venue: TBC
15th Round 3 – 12 December 2012, Venue: TBC
| Dr Rameez, David Walker (Deputy Secretary, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade), Mr. J.Jayasiri(Senior Director MITI) at the reception. |
