WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 2013 - United States Trade Representative Michael Froman announced today that he will travel to Asia this month for meetings on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Froman is scheduled to stop in Tokyo on Aug. 19 for a full day of meetings with his ministerial counterparts on the TPP. He will then continue on to Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, from Aug. 20 to Aug. 23 for the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings on the margins of the 19th TPP negotiating round.
Froman’s schedule in Brunei will include a meeting with the ASEAN ministers under the ASEAN-U.S. Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement, an informal meeting of the East Asia Summit Economic Ministers, and the ASEAN-U.S. business summit.
The business summit will involve business representatives from the United States and ASEAN exchanging views on promoting economic growth and innovation in Southeast Asia, and to convey recommendations in direct dialogue with the ASEAN trade ministers. The meetings also will include a discussion of the progress of joint activities under the U.S.-ASEAN Expanded Economic Engagement initiative.
In addition to discussing the TPP and parallel bilateral negotiations in Japan, Froman will meet with TPP ministers in Brunei on Aug. 22 and Aug. 23. Ministers will discuss key outstanding issues with the aim of charting a course for the conclusion of a TPP agreement.
USTR said that through the TPP, the United States is seeking to advance a 21st-century trade and investment framework that will boost competitiveness, expand trade and investment with the robust economies of the Asia Pacific, and support the creation and retention of U.S. jobs while promoting core U.S. principles on labor rights, environmental protection, and transparency. TPP leaders have directed trade ministers and negotiators to seek to complete an agreement this year.
#30
For more news, visit www.Agri-Pulse.com