Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and its implications

What is TPP?: Agreement between 12 countries of Asia Pacific rim:

1. Australia
2. Brunei
3. Canada
4. Chile
5. Japan
6. Mexico
7. Malaysia
8. New Zealand
9. Peru
10. Singapore
11. USA
12. Vietnam

The Trans-Pacific Partnership pact reached recently between the United States and 11 Pacific Rim nations including Canada and Japan, has raised both hopes and concerns.

What is Trans-Pacific Partnership pact?

It is a trade pact that is intended to cut trade barriers and establish common standards for 12 countries.

What it does?

• New terms for trade and business investment among the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations.
• It would phase out thousands of import tariffs as well as other barriers to international trade.
• It also would establish uniform rules on corporations’ intellectual property, open the Internet even in communist Vietnam and crack down on wildlife trafficking and environmental abuses.

Its significance:

• This is the largest trade pact in 20 years.
• The agreement covers 40% of the world’s economy.
• It is seen as a means to address a number of important issues that have become necessary as global trade has soared, including e-commerce, financial services and cross-border Internet communications.

What its supporters say?

• The pact would boost growth in the U.S. as well as the Asian economies.
• It would be a boon for all the nations involved.
• It would unlock opportunities and address vital 21st-century issues within the global economy.

What its opponents say?

• Critics in the US say it would only help American companies send jobs abroad. Some people call it a “trade disaster”.
• Critics in other countries say it would benefit large corporations, particularly American big pharma, with the common people at the receiving end.
• Some people say it would reduce access to generic medicines in developing countries.
• Internet freedom campaigners see it as a big threat.

Why is the US interested in this deal?

• It is seen as a way to bind Pacific trading partners closer to the United States while raising a challenge to Asia’s rising power, China.
• Traditionally, the U.S. has tried to isolate its enemies and integrate allies with its own worldview. With China it couldn’t do either.
• China is now the world’s second largest economy, which has invested trillions of dollars in U.S. treasury bonds. Hence, isolating such an economy is next to impossible.
• Now, with China emerging as an economic powerhouse with new institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in place, the U.S. is trying to form a grand alliance that would shore up its influence in Asia.

Economists such as Joseph Stiglitz have pointed out that the TPP would hardly meet either its declared commercial goals or its undeclared strategic ambitions, and could turn counterproductive.

Credits: Insights, Wiki

ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations)

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic organization of ten Southeast Asian countries. It was formed on 8 August 1967.

Members (10)

1. Myanmar (Burma)
2. Laos
3. Cambodia
4. Vietnam
5. Indonesia
6. Philippines
7. Singapore
8. Thailand
9. Brunei
10. Malaysia

Objective:

Accelerating economic growth,

                   social progress,

                   sociocultural evolution

                   protection of regional stability

                   providing a mechanism for member countries to resolve differences peacefully.

ASEAN shares land borders with India, China, Bangladesh, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea, and maritime borders with India, China, and Australia.

Why in News?

• 13th ASEAN Summit in Kualalumpur (Capital of Malaysia)
• Narendra Modi Attended

<<Optional Reading material>>

Narendra Modi said-   "Going further, I want to assure you that India is committed to protect Intellectual Property Rights of all innovators." (the Hindu)

"Our major ports witnessed 4.65% growth in traffic and 11.2% increase in operating income in 14-15 despite a global contraction in trade," Mr. Modi said.

Mr. Modi stated "We have begun institutional and structural reforms - in agriculture, housing, transport, financial inclusion, investment."

Article 2: the Hindu

Brushing aside dispute over the South China Sea, China on Friday called for the fuller economic integration with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), steered by the Nanning - Singapore Economic Corridor

ASEAN to transform into a community:

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was proclaimed a community through a declaration signed by the ASEAN leaders at its 27th Summit here on Sunday. The leaders stated that this was a historic development and an important milestone in the evolution of the 10-member grouping since its founding in 1967.

Simultaneously, the leaders endorsed “ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together,” which charts the path for community building over the next 10 years. The forward-looking road map articulates the ASEAN goals and aspirations to realise “consolidation, integration and stronger cohesiveness as a community.”

Both the declarations were endorsed by the ASEAN leaders in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, among others.

At ASEAN, Modi brings up South China Sea issue (21st Nov 2015)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a passing reference to the disputes in the South China Sea in his address at the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN)-India Summit held in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

"India hopes that all parties to the disputes in the South China Sea will abide by the guidelines on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and redouble efforts for early adoption of a Code of Conduct on the basis of consensus," the Prime Minister said.

Mr. Modi also emphasised the need for evolving specific plans of cooperation in maritime security, counter-piracy and humanitarian and disaster relief.

Trade ties top Modi’s agenda at Asean meet (21st Nov, 2015)

It is really going to be an Act East policy: Wadhwa

In a recent series of Facebook posts, the Prime Minister said that his scheduled visits to Malaysia and Singapore were “aimed at making our economic ties with these nations stronger and to also strengthen the security cooperation between us”.  The Asean today is India’s fourth largest trading partner. India, in turn, is the sixth largest partner for Asean.

The Asean today is India’s fourth largest trading partner. India, in turn, is the sixth largest partner for Asean. 

The Asean-India strategic partnership was stated to have acquired further momentum after the enunciation of the “Act East Policy” by Mr. Modi at the 12th Asean-India Summit in November 2014. “Our trade and investment flows are substantially growing. Yet, we want to further scale up our trade and economic ties,” Mr. Modi stated. At the Asean-India Summit, leaders are expected to take note of the new Plan of Action (2016-2020) to further cooperation along the politico-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars.

The India Story, in word & deed (24th Nov, 2015)

On his visit to Kuala Lumpur to attend the ASEAN-India summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in familiar form, pitching India as an investment destination to the East Asian countries.

He also offered specific opportunities to ASEAN countries on investing in infrastructure in India, particularly in Metro Rail systems, housing, road, rail and waterways. 

India, ASEAN can be ‘great partners’: Modi (12th Nov, 2014)

As India seeks to deepen its engagement with the 10-nation bloc of small and medium economies, Modi said both India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are keen to enhance their cooperation in advancing balance, peace and stability in the region.

“The ASEAN community is India’s neighbour. We have ancient relations of trade, religion, culture, art and traditions. We have enriched each other through our interaction. This constitutes a strong foundation of a modern relationship,” Modi said in his opening statement in Hindi at the 12th India—ASEAN summit in the Myanmarese capital.

REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP (RCEP)

REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP (RCEP)

Members:

10 ASEAN members plus its free trade partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea)

• RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
• RCEP is viewed as an alternative to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which includes the United States but excludes China.
• Started in 2013
• India has reduced trade tariffs by almost 40%
• Criticism is that the FTAs have not benefitted Indian companies- A setback to Make in India

From India’s point of view, the RCEP presents a decisive platform which could influence its strategic and economic status in the Asia-Pacific region and bring to fruition its “Act East Policy.” It is expected to be an ambitious agreement bringing the five biggest economies of the region – Australia, China, India, Japan and South Korea – into a regional trading arrangement.

It would be the world’s largest trading bloc covering a broad spectrum of issues such as trade in goods, services, investment, competition, intellectual property rights, and other areas of economic and technical cooperation. Together, the RCEP group of countries accounts for a third of the world’s gross domestic product.

Source: the diplomat 

If India signs RCEP, it will not be the 'pharmacy of the world': Source: The Hindu: june 2016

Humanitarian aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned India that the country will not remain ‘pharmacy of the developing world’ if the proposals in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (RCEP) are adopted. The RCEP is a regional trade agreement being negotiated between the 10 ASEAN countries currently in Auckland.

MSF Access Campaign along with other civil society organisations are pushing for the removal of harmful intellectual property provisions that could potentially increase drug costs by creating new monopolies and delaying the entry of affordable generics in the market.

“Unless negotiators remove harmful provisions from RCEP, this trade deal is set to follow the dangerous path of the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which is recognised globally as the worst trade deal ever for access to medicines. 

Arab League

Arab League is a regional organization of Arab countries in and around North Africa. Currently, the League has 22 members, although Syria's participation has been suspended since November 2011, as a consequence of government repression during the ongoing uprising and civil war.

List of reports published by International Organizations

Sr.	Name of Report	Organization
1.	World Investment Report	UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development)
2.	Human Development Index	UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
3.	**Gender Inequality Index	UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
4.	Millennium Development Goals	UNO (United Nations Organization)
5.	Global Financial System Report	BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards)
6.	Global Innovation Index Published	INSEAD
7.	World Development Report	IBRD (World Bank)
8.	Ease of Doing Business	IBRD (World Bank)
9.	Global Talent Competitiveness Index	INSEAD
10.	Intellectual Property Rights	WTO (World Trade Organization)
11.	The Energy Report & Living Planet Report by	WWF (World Wildlife Fund)
12.	Carbon Emission Index was Published by	UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)
13.	Global Terrorism Index	IEP (Institute for Economics and Peace)
14.	Global Peace Index	IEP (Institute for Economics and Peace)
15.	Global Money Laundering Report	FATF (Financial Action Task Force)
16.	World Economic Outlook	IMF (International Monetary Fund)
17.	Global Competitive Index	WEF (World Economic Forum)
18.	Travel & Tourism Index	WEF (World Economic Forum)
19.	Environmental Performance Index	WEF (World Economic Forum)
20.	Global Information Index	WEF (World Economic Forum)
21.	Levels and Trends in Child Mortality Report	UN Inter-agency Group
22.	India State of Forest Report	Forest Survey of India
23.	Interest Subvention Report 2015-16	Reserve Bank of India
24.	Change the World List Data	Fortune

** Whereas Global Gender Gap report is published by World Economic Forum

Source

What is US pivot to East policy?

US pivot to East policy implies America's shift in diplomatic, economic and military policy shift towards Asia (from from Europe and Middle East)

Moves:

1) The United States shifted 2,500 Marines to a base in northern Australia.

2) TPP  (Washington's most ambitious trade proposals in years).

3) To contain China's aggressive Navy in the South China sea.

• China has invited Asian countries to join Beijing in framing a security governance model with “Asian features” to counter the U.S. ‘rebalance’ to the region.
• Washington has dubbed the growing Chinese assertion as a danger to “freedom of navigation” which could hamper the $5.3 trillion trade passing through the South China Sea.
• China has objected outside powers, or internationalisation, for resolving differences among Asian countries

Republicans, Democrats difference and US Presidential elections

Republican Party

• The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP (abbreviation for Grand Old Party), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party.
• There have been 18 Republican presidents, the first being Abraham Lincoln, who served from 1861 to 1865, when he was assassinated, and the most recent being George W. Bush, who served from 2001 to 2009.
• The latest Republican presidential nominee is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who lost in 2012 to incumbent Democrat Barack Obama.
• Businessman and reality television personality Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2016 election.

Democratic Party

• The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson's and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828, making it the world's oldest active party.
• The party's philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state.
• It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy.These interventions, such as the introduction of social programs, support for labor unions, moves toward universal health care and equal opportunity, consumer protection, and environmental protection form the core of the party's economic policy.
• There have been 15 Democratic presidents: the first was Andrew Jackson, who served from 1829 to 1837. The most recent is the current one, Barack Obama, who has been in office since 2009.

US Presidential Election:

• The election of President and Vice President of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty states or Washington, D.C. cast ballots for a set of members of the U.S. Electoral College, known as electors.
• These electors then in turn cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for President and Vice President of the United States. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes for President or Vice President is then elected to that office.
• If no candidate receives an absolute majority for President, the House of Representatives chooses the President; if no one receives a majority for Vice President, then the Senate chooses the Vice President.

United States House of Representatives :

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the United States Congress (a bicameral legislature) alongside the Senate.

United States Congress:

• The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, and only rarely to a third-party or as independents. Congress has 535 voting members: 435 Representatives and 100 Senators.

Arab states of the Persian Gulf

Arab states of the Persian Gulf :

The Arab states of the Persian Gulf are the seven Arab states which border the Persian Gulf, namely:

1. Kuwait,
2. Bahrain,
3. Iraq,
4. Oman,
5. Qatar,
6. Saudi Arabia and
7. the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

All of these nations (with the exception of Iraq) are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Why Iraq is not part of GCC:

1- GCC was formed in the aftermath of Iranian revolution, Iraq was somehow party to it (Shah and his family fled to Iran).  Perhaps the main goal of the Council was to protect the members from the threat of spreading violence.  While most all of those members were very actively supportive of Saddam's invasion of Iran, to actually have Iraq join their alliance would be tantamount to a declaration of war on Iran.

2- 6 members of the GCC are all very conservative monarchies (or sheikhdoms, to be more precise).  Iraq on the other hand, was an avowedly secular and socialist regime.

3- Iraq  did have observer status in GCC, until it was kicked out after Saddam's invasion of Kuwait.  

United Nations - Objectives and Principal organs (Credit: Mr. Pratyush)

Content:

• Historical Background
• Objectives
• Principal Organs
• Specialized Agencies
• Official Languages
• Finances

Screenshot of the notes: (Page 1)

For downloading Pdf (4.61 MB) of the notes, click on the box below:

New Development Bank (BRICS BANK): Important Points

• The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as an alternative to the existing US-dominated World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
• The New Development Bank was agreed to by BRICS leaders at the 5th BRICS summit held in Durban, South Africa on 27 March 2013.
• On 15 July 2014, the first day of the 6th BRICS summit held in Fortaleza, Brazil, the group of emerging economies signed the long-anticipated document to create the $100 billion.
• BRICS Development Bank and a reserve currency pool worth over another $100 billion
• Both will counter the influence of Western-based lending institutions and the dollar.
• Shanghai was selected as the headquarters after competition from New Delhi and Johannesburg.
• The first president will be from India.
• The bank's primary focus of lending will be infrastructure projects with authorized lending of up to $34 billion annually.
• Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will initially contribute $10 billion each to bring the total to $50 billion. Each member cannot increase its share of capital without all other 4 members agreeing.