Preface

Summary

This edited volume has taken a long time to complete. The original plan was to publish an edited volume on the potential impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement on Southeast Asia based on papers presented in a series of seminars held at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in 2016. This plan was put on hold following the uncertainties created by the withdrawal of the United States from the TPP in January 2017. The subsequent signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in 2018 convinced us to resuscitate the book project. Our contributors have had to revise their chapters to take into account, as much as possible, the major changes brought about by the new deal.

We are confident that this volume will continue to be important and relevant in light of the plethora of global political and economic challenges that have emerged in recent times, such as the rise of protectionism, the US-China trade war and the Covid-19 pandemic. We hope that this volume will serve as a useful reference to anyone keen to understand the CPTPP—its nature, evolution and impact.

This book project would not have materialized without our contributors. We thank them for their patience and willingness to reconfigure the chapters after the TPP was transformed into CPTPP. At ISEAS, the support of Director Choi Shing Kwok and Senior Advisor Tan Chin Tiong has been invaluable. We would also like to thank Ng Kok Kiong and Sheryl Sin Bing Peng of the Publications Unit for their help in finalizing and publishing this edited volume.