12 other Pacific Rim countries have signed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement which   covers about 40 per cent of the world economy.

These 12 countries are: Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Canada, United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Australia and New Zealand.

The final agreement was signed after five days of talks in Atlanta, US which was under negotiation for five years and was delayed repeatedly by negotiations over drug patents.

It should be noted that China being world’s second-largest economy has been not part of the agreement.