Brunei voices support for S. Korea's push to join CPTPP

Brunei on Thursday expressed support for South Korea's push to join a mega free trade deal in the Asia-Pacific region, Seoul's trade ministry said.

Brunei's second finance minister, Mohd Amin Liew Abdullah, voiced the support during a virtual meeting with South Korea's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo.

The meeting came as South Korea is working to submit an application this month for membership to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The CPTPP involves 11 nations, including Brunei, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, whose trade volume stood at $5.2 trillion as of 2020, accounting for around 15 percent of the world's total.

The Brunei minister welcomed Seoul's envisioned membership application and vowed active cooperation for its entry.

During the talks, the two sides agreed to expand bilateral trade and investment, and to boost cooperation in such new industry fields as digital trade and climate change.

Bilateral trade between the two countries came to $170 million last year, government data showed.

Yeo also proposed deeper ties in the energy sector to better respond to the recent instability in global supply chains, as Brunei is an oil producing nation. (Yonhap)