LatinNews Daily - 29 November 2024

*Costa Rica has been invited to begin the process of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade bloc comprising Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. Costa Rica’s foreign trade minister, Manuel Tovar, described the CPTPP as “one of the most ambitious and relevant trade agreements in the world… that as a whole represents 15% of global GDP and a market of 600m consumers”. Tovar said that Costa Rica’s ascension to the CPTPP would stimulate foreign direct investment (FDI) as well as boosting exports, helping to diversify the country’s economy. Costa Rica’s foreign trade ministry said in a statement that the country will now “submit to a process of evaluation by the [CPTPP’s] members of its regulatory framework… as well as negotiating the conditions of market access for goods and services”.