Costa Rica receives invitation to join Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement

Costa Rica has been invited to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade bloc, it said on Thursday, which would bring on plans to boost trade with the dozen other member nations involved.

The Central American country must still be evaluated by the member countries and negotiate the terms of market access for its goods and services, the foreign trade ministry said in a statement.

"It will provide Costa Rica with the unique opportunity to enter markets with countries with which it does not yet have trade agreements with preferential conditions," the ministry said in the statement, and specifically pointed to Japan, Australia, Malaysia, New Zeland, Brunei and Vietnam.

Costa Rican authorities submitted a request in August 2022 to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, one of the world's leading trade agreements whose members represent 15% of the world's GDP.