The UK became the first European nation to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on Sunday, an Indo-Pacific trade bloc that includes Australia and Canada.
The UK is the 12th country to join the CPTPP, after years of negotiations. Britain's application to be admitted to the trade bloc was first submitted in 2021. The UK government predicts membership of CPTPP will bring billions into Britain's struggling economy, and it will now immediately apply trade rules and lower tariffs with most of the pact's members. Eight CPTPP members earlier ratified the entrance of the UK, including Japan, Singapore, Chile, New Zealand, Vietnam, Peru, Malaysia and Brunei. A period of 60 days has to elapse between ratification and admission. Because Australia ratified slightly later, the CPTPP rules won't apply to it and the UK before December 24. Canada and Mexico have yet to finally rubber-stamp the UK's membership, but officials expect that to happen in the near future.
"Britain is uniquely placed to take advantage of exciting new markets, while strengthening existing relationships," UK business and trade minister, Jonathan Reynolds, said. "Today's news is further proof that the UK is a wonderful place to do business, with an open, outward-looking economy driving the growth people can feel in their communities.
"Agreements like this boost trade and create opportunities for UK companies abroad. This is a proven way to support jobs, raise wages and drive investment across the country, which is key to this Government's mission to deliver economic growth," he added.
Meanwhile, the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who was trade secretary when the UK formally agreed to join the bloc in 2023, said the deal "brings enormous benefits to everyone from British farmers to fintech and small businesses to the largest manufacturers. The deal places the UK in a bloc with the fastest-growing economies in the world and was a key Brexit benefit to add to our EU trade deal".
The UK government estimates the pact may be worth £2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) a year in the long run, which would be less than 0.1 per cent of GDP. Also, joining the CPTPP was also a far less complicated process than negotiating a post-Brexit deal with the EU. The CPTPP is not a single market like the European Union and, as such, regulatory harmonisation was not required. Any future deal between the UK and EU, however, would have to take such harmonisation into account.
The pact represents Britain's first free trade deals with Malaysia and Brunei. The CPTPP has its roots in the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was developed in part to counter China's growing economic dominance. However, that collapsed after then President Trump pulled the US out of the agreement in 2017. From that collapse the CPTPP took shape. Costa Rica is the next country set to join the trade pact, with Indonesia also expressing a desire for membership.
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FIGHT CARD
Bantamweight Hamza Bougamza (MAR) v Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
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Lighweight Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) v Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
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Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
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Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
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Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
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THE SPECS
Engine: six-litre W12 twin-turbo
Transmission: eight-speed dual clutch auto
Power: 626bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh940,160 (plus VAT)
On sale: Q1 2020
