Thailand says 'highly likely' it will seek TPP membership

Tokyo

THAILAND is "highly likely" to seek membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) but would first need to weigh up the impact of the free-trade accord on its export-led economy, a deputy prime minister said on Friday.

The pact currently has 12 members and would slash tariffs in a bloc comprising countries from Canada, Australia and Japan to Mexico, Vietnam and Chile in a trade area of 800 million people worth about 40 per cent of the global economy.