The first European country to join the CPTPP.

Britain became the first European country to officially join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans -Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) today, December 15, according to AFP.

Britain signed the agreement to join the CPTPP last year and is now officially the 12th member of this Indo- Pacific trade bloc , according to AFP.

Representatives of CPTPP member countries at an event in Santiago, Chile, on March 8, 2018.

British officials hope that membership in the CPTPP will boost the country's sluggish economy by an additional £2 billion ($2.5 billion) per year.

According to AFP, citing British government figures, the overall value of UK trade in the 12 months to the end of September was £1.7 trillion.

Besides the UK, the CPTPP currently includes Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.

This bloc, which accounts for approximately 15% of global GDP, will give British businesses access to a market of over 500 million people.

When the British government signed the CPTPP in July 2023, then-British Trade and Business Minister Kemi Badenoch called it "the biggest trade deal" since Britain left the European Union (Brexit) at the end of January 2020.

The UK has signed a number of post-Brexit trade agreements, including with Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, since leaving the European Union's single market in early 2021.

He is also pursuing a deal with Gulf states, and last month, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that Britain and India would resume stalled talks to agree on a free trade deal.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/quoc-gia-chau-au-dau-tien-gia-nhap-cptpp-185241215090737732.htm