More than 500 international delegates have converged on the Chilean capital of Santiago this week for Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, representing nine countries with aggregated GDPs totalling US$16 trillion dollars, according to a release from Chile's Foreign Relations Ministry.

The release said 21 business groups were attending the talks at the city's Catholic University, from Chile, Australia, Brunei, the U.S., Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

"This agreement is a process of the most ambitious economic trade integration in the Asia Pacific region's history, as it involves nine dynamic economies and would be the first agreement to link the western and eastern shores of the Pacific," said Chile's international economic relations managing director Jorge Bunster.

He said the countries had come together united by the certainty that trade openness would strengthen their economies, trade growth, employment and trust amongst each other.

Chile holds free trade agreements with all the countries in the TPP except Vietnam, with which it is currently holding negotiations.

The talks will be hosted until Feb. 18.

Photo: Flickr, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

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