Asia WTO Research Network (AWRN) welcomes you to visit this website for the annual AWRN Conference (#AWRN2016) . Each year, AWRN co-hosts an academic conference with an Asian-Pacific Institution.
For the 2016 conference, we are pleased and appreciative to have the Centre for Financial Regulation and Economic Development (CUHK Law) co-hosting the annual conference with us. We are thankful to CUHK Law Faculty and Professor Julien Chaisse for organizing the conference.
The main theme of the 2016 conference is the newly concluded Transpacific Partnership (TPP) which a Free Trade Agreement ("FTA") between 12 countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. All 12 TPP countries are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The TPP was concluded on 5 October 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and signed on 4 February 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand. The TPP has its roots in the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPSEP), otherwise known as the Pacific 4 (P4) agreement, which came into effect in May 2006 between Singapore, Brunei, Chile and New Zealand. In 2008, the US, Australia and Peru formally indicated their interest in negotiating an FTA with the P4. This FTA became known as the TPP. In 2010, Malaysia and Vietnam formally joined negotiations. This was followed by Mexico and Canada in October 2012 and Japan in July 2013.
The 58 speakers will cover a very wide range of issues, all of which are related to and based upon the negotiations and the text of the TPP. Our discussions aim to explore the new paradigm, to identify issues of concerns and their possible solutions, to contribute to the future operation of the TPP, and to identify experiences and lessons useful to other mega-FTAs.
All of the members of the Organizing Committee from the AWRN and the CUHK Law Faculty wish you a superb conference experience and a memorable stay in Hong Kong. Welcome to Hong Kong!
Prof. Chang-fa Lo, Chair, AWRN
Prof. Julien Chaisse, Faculty of Law, CUHK |
