JAKARTA - CPTPP countries, a consortium of several countries across the Asia Pacific, Europe, and America, held their first-ever Trade and Investment Dialogues with the European Union (EU) and ASEAN in Melbourne on Thursday, November 20.

The dialogue identified five key areas for future work: trade diversification, digital trade, trade and investment facilitation, supply chain resilience, and the global trade environment, with senior officials tasked with preparing concrete work plans ahead of the next meeting in 2026.

They also backed reforms at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to modernise global trade rules and restore a fully functioning dispute settlement system.

“Free and open markets remain essential to future economic growth and security,” the CPTPP and EU said in a joint ministerial statement.

CPTPP is a free trade deal between 11 countries that lowers tariffs and makes it easier for them to do business with each other, contributing to roughly 15% of total world trade. The countries include Australia, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, the UK, New Zealand, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, and more.

CPTPP members also said they fully back ASEAN’s central role in the region and discussed ways to cut non-tariff barriers, expand digital trade, and make regulations work better across countries. They also talked about ASEAN’s efforts to build a regional Digital Economy Framework Agreement to support online trade and cooperation.

While Indonesia is not yet a CPTPP member, the country applied back in September 2024. CPTPP membership, if successful, would give Indonesia better access to major markets and could eliminate tariffs on up to 99% of goods among member countries.

China, Ecuador, Uruguay, the UAE, Ukraine, and the Philippines have also submitted their formal applications.