Progress Updates on Trans-Pacific Partnership and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

Mdm Speaker, 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).

TPP negotiations started in March 2010 and there have been 19 formal negotiating rounds to-date. The last TPP Ministerial Meeting 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 from 22 to 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 from 20 to 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

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will be held in China in April 2014.

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 – namely China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand – in the first instance. Other interested economic partners will be able to join the RCEP following the conclusion of negotiations.

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 over the next four days. We also hosted some of the earlier negotiating Rounds – Round 16 in March 2013 and Round 6 in March 2010.

Singapore meets with interested countries to share about the TPP and RCEP process. Indeed, the TPP started out as the P4 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.

Mdm Speaker, I thank the Minister for his reply. Could the Minister elaborate on how relevant TPP is given that you have the absence of Korea, Taiwan, and China? The second question is, will the TPP and RCEP be successful if there is the

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mutual exclusion of China and the US respectively? I know there is avenue for them to join at the later stage but, given that the rules would have been set by the founding members, would that make admission difficult for these two major economic powers?

Speaking from Singapore's economic interests' point of view, we have already bilateral FTAs with China, Korea and Taiwan. As part of ASEAN, we also have FTAs with Korea and China. So, it is not that we do not have preferential trade access to these countries. Similarly, for RCEP, China is in it. The US, so far, has not expressed interest in it. So, we must look at RCEP and TPP as separate but sometimes overlapping plurilateral agreements.