Costa Rica made official on Wednesday the request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Treaty for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP, for its acronym in English) made up of 11 countries from Asia and the Americas, the president of the Central American nation, Rodrigo Chaves, said on Wednesday.
The Chaves government formalizes the request to the free trade group a month after announcing that it will negotiate entry to the Pacific Alliance, which is made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, as a first step to strengthen trade relations with economies Asian dynamics.
The CPTPP entered into force in 2018. After the United States announced its final withdrawal from the treaty, it was made up of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The agreement withdraws 95% of the fees between its members. “There are 500 million people, potential consumers of Costa Rican products,” Foreign Trade Minister Manuel Tovar said at a press conference.
“It allows us to share commercial strategies, attract investment and cause linkages for small and medium-sized companies. It is the area of the world that is growing the most,” said Chaves after pointing out that the CPTPP integrates 17% of world trade.
