Positive sign that more countries are eager to join CPTPP trade bloc

HARDLY a week has gone by of late without one country or another expressing interest in joining the multilateral trade deal known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

It is easy to see why countries big and small from all corners of the globe want to get admitted - no matter how long the ascension process might take - given the vast benefits that await them if they are successful. For one, the agreement removes a hefty 95 per cent of tariffs between its existing 11 Pacific Rim members - Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Combined, these nations have a population of over half a billion people and generate more than 13 per cent of the world's income.

On Tuesday, the UK began the long negotiation process to join the CPTPP, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government regards as a "glittering post-Brexit prize" that it needs to seize, with London looking to rely less on Europe and instead towards geographically further but faster-growing consumer markets. Like many of the other bloc's members, the CPTPP is also regarded as a crucial way to both gain and exert influence in the Indo-Pacific region where China is by far the most dominant power.