The Honourable Minister for Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, Faiyaz Koya, joined his colleague Ministers to launch the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Ministerial Statements for Pillar I – Trade, Pillar II – Supply Chain, Pillar III – Clean Economy and Pillar IV – Tax and Anti-Corruption.
The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) is a US-led Agreement that includes 13 other partners, namely Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and VietNam.
“A unique, but progressive framework that has sustainability, resilience and inclusive prosperity at its core, was today agreed and launched by the IPEF partners. I am really pleased that Fiji is a part of this launch, and most importantly that Fiji’s participation helped shape the Ministerial Statements” said Hon Koya.
“For the first time Fiji was included in such a large regional configuration. A configuration that includes the key markets. We may not be discussing traditional market access in the Trade Pillar, but are looking at the key components that can make trading across borders easier. Similarly other Pillars are looking at improving supply chain resilience, creating clean economies and cooperating in tax and anti-corruption”, added the Minister.
The IPEF has set high quality and ambitious goals as a trailblazing agreement. It has also given recognition to the vulnerabilities and challenges faced by Fiji and other partners in the Ministerial Statements.
“The commitment on flexibilities, technical assistance and capacity building are an integral part of the Ministerial Statements. Our Officials continued to emphasise this position, and we are glad other IPEF members showed flexibility in this regard”. said Minister Koya.
The IPEF partners have laid out a very ambitious work programme that will see the beginning of negotiations on the legal text in early November 2022.
The Fijian delegation to the IPEF Minister Conference being held in Los Angeles, US, is led by the Minister for Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, Hon. Faiyaz Koya, supported by the Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, Shaheen Ali, Senior Trade Officials and Technical Advisor.
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