Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement enters into force in Mongolia

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Mongolia acceded to the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) last year as its seventh member and the agreement entered into force on January 1. Participation in APTA will enable Mongolia to enjoy reduced tax tariff barriers on certain types of export items. APTA, previously known as the Bangkok Agreement, was established in 1975 between India, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Laos and Bangladesh with aims to promote economic development of its members through the adoption of mutually beneficial trade liberalization measures that contribute to regional trade expansion and economic cooperation. The four sessions of the Ministerial Council of APTA have enabled the participating countries to enjoy reduced tax tariff on 10,677 types of products in trade. Mongolia expressed its interest to join APTA in 2009. As prerequisite for the accession, it had conducted several negotiations with member countries as well as adopting the Law on Ratification of Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement on December 12, 2019. After a long journey of more than a decade, Mongolia officially became the seventh member of APTA.