TOKYO (JAPAN) – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday that the country is looking at expanding the ambit of the major regional free trade agreement called the CPTPP and it will cater to the interest of China and the UK to join the deal.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) connects 11 countries, including Canada, Australia and Japan.
“Japan will aspire for the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific through the early conclusion of the RCEP agreement and the steady implementation and expansion of the CPTPP as next year’s chair,” Suga said.
This was announced in a pre-recorded video message at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) CEO Dialogues.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is the world’s largest free trade agreement inked this month by 15 economies and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific is potentially an even larger agreement the 21-member APEC has been aspiring to.
Beijing said on Thursday it was open to joining the CPTPP, while London had said earlier this year it wishes to be part of the pact.
Top Chinese diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, is visiting Tokyo next week and this marks the first high-level visit between the two nations ever since the outbreak of the pandemic, said Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Friday.