ASEAN countries promote negotiation of RCEP agreement

3/11/2020 - 6:14:51 PM

Economic ministers of the ASEAN member countries have discussed orientations to promote the negotiation and signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement in late 2020.

At the meeting (Photo: VNA)

The information was presented at a meeting of ASEAN Economic Ministers on RCEP held in Da Nang on March 11 within the framework of the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Retreat.

According to Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, ASEAN ministers discussed how ASEAN countries can advance the negotiation of the agreement toward a successful conclusion and signing of the deal towards the end of this year.

"Among the parties participating in the RCEP agreement, India has not reached an agreement on market access with its partner countries and also has some internal issues that need further negotiation. At this meeting, the ministers also discussed and proposed some measures for the above situation,” said Minister Tran Tuan Anh.

Secretary General of ASEAN Lim Jock Hoi said that the signing of RCEP is a very important goal which was set out at the ASEAN Summit in 2019.

He expressed his hope that after discussions during this meeting, the relevant documents on the agreement could be completed in May and signed by the end of this year.

Launched in November 2012, RCEP includes 10 ASEAN member countries and six major partners that ASEAN has signed a free trade agreement with including China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand.

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