What does the possible end of the TPP mean for the Mekong Delta projects?
China and Japan remain committed to the region; matter of time before private investment picks up. The future of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement looks increasingly unlikely to progress in the wake Donald Trump’s U.S. election victory. And Vietnam, once touted as one of the biggest winners from the TPP deal, has backed away from the TPP. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on November 17 that “Vietnam does not have a strong enough basis to propose the joining of TPP”. There has been talk that Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hopes to convince President-elect Trump to stay in the TPP but that remains to be seen. At the APEC CEO summit in Lima Peru in November, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed an alternative vision for the region by promoting the Beijing-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which currently excludes the Americas. He also pledged further economic openings for the region, stressing China will push for the common development of all Asia Pacific countries to create more opportunities for people in the region. “We could see a renewed push from China to support economies in the region,” says Stephen Wyatt, JLL’s Country Head in Vietnam.
