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Atlanta became the center of a historic global moment when the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations finalized the largest regional trade agreement in history, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this week.
Goals of the TPP include reduction of trade barriers between signatories, protection of intellectual property and promotion of economic development. The countries involved in the agreement comprise 40 percent of the world economy.
Hundreds of international trade officials participated in six days of closed-door meetings and deliberations. The pact – five years in the making – was finally signed, though it is pending approval in its partner nations’ legislatures.
– André Ledgister, SPR Atlanta