If necessary, the country will take steps for domestic procedures and also monitor other countries’ moves closely, said Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon.
The official signing of CP TPP took place in Santiago de Chile on March 8 (local time), with the participation of representatives from 11 member countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
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RoK's Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon. Source: yonhap/VNA |
CP TPP was launched a year ago after the US withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
The pact creates one of the world’s largest free trade blocs with a combined market of 499 million people and GDP of around USD 10,100 billion, accounting for 13.5 percent of the global GDP.
The RoK has been in preliminary negotiations to participate as an associate member in the Pacific Alliance trade bloc comprised of Mexico, Chile, Peru and Colombia.
It has already signed FTAs with Chile, Peru and Colombia but has yet to do the same with Mexico, which is the largest economy in the alliance.
Seoul will, moreover, open talks on forging a trade pact with Mercosur, South America's leading trading bloc, composed of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, in the first half of this year, reported Yonhap News.
Source: VNA