Mexico and Canada have been invited to join Peru and eight Pacific Rim nations in the multi-lateral Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks which are working towards trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region.
Negotiations between the other partners, who include Vietnam, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and the U.S., have been underway since 2010.
The TPP countries have so far completed 12 rounds of negotiations, with the nine countries claiming to have made "solid progress."
The next round of negotiations is scheduled to take place from July 2 to 10 in San Diego, California.
Earlier this year, Peruvian Trade Minister Jose Luis Silva said Peru is optimistic that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations between Pacific Rim countries in the Americas and Asia could yield a trade agreement in 2012.
(END) INT/RZZ/EEP