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Trans Pacific Partnership agreement a "very big win" for Australia: PM

Xinhua, October 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

The signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been hailed as a "very big win" for Australia, according to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Signed in the United States city of Atlanta, the deal struck between 12 Pacific nations is the biggest since the turn of the millennium and will encompass 40 percent of the world's economy.

Australia, through Trade Minister Andrew Robb, approved the deal on Tuesday alongside colleagues from Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

Turnbull said the agreement would allow greater market exposure for Australian exporters, with up to 98 percent of all participating nations' import and export tariffs being eliminated as a part of the deal.

"What this means - in an age of a rapidly globalizing economy - is enormous benefits to us... it is a gigantic foundation for our prosperity," the prime minister said.

Australia's beef, dairy, rice and sugar industries will benefit from greater export opportunities, while Australian resources and manufacturing sectors will also attain easier access to burgeoning overseas markets.

Australia has recently signed free trade agreements with Japan and South Korea, with the historic China-Australia Free Trade Agreement also in the process of being approved by parliament. Endi