Public hearings will be held in all regions throughout Thailand to gather feedback from all stakeholders on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
On March 8, 11 Pacific Rim countries signed the CPTPP, which was revised after the US withdrew from the previous TPP agreement in January 2017.
The signatories are Singapore, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Vietnam. The CPTPP members welcomed interest from other economies wishing to join the trade bloc.
The pact is set to go into effect 60 days after at least six countries complete domestic approval procedures. Members are expected to speed up implementation of the pact this year.
The 11 CPTPP countries combined had US$10.2 trillion (319 trillion baht) in GDP in 2017, making up 13.5% of the global total.
The CPTPP incorporates the original TPP agreement, pledging to slash tariffs on 95% of trade in goods, along with covering a host of trade topics, ranging from technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures to competition policy and intellectual property rights.