15 nations complete RCEP talks
India bows out, citing differences as group prepares to ink deal
FIFTEEN countries have concluded the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations without India and will now prepare for the signing of the free trade deal next year.
RCEP, which is a free trade deal involving Asean and six of its FTA partners, has been negotiated for seven years.
In an immediate reaction, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quoted by Indian media as saying the country decided not to agree to it as it stands due to differences over tariff, its trade deficit with other countries.
In a joint statement released at the end of the RCEP summit yesterday, the leaders said they noted that 15 countries had concluded textbased negotiations for all 20 chapters and essentially all their market access issues.
“All RCEP participating countries will work together to resolve these outstanding issues in a mutually satisfactory way. India’s final decision will depend on the satisfactory resolution of these issues,” the statement said.
RCEP involves 10 Asean members and six FTA partners – China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.
In an immediate reaction, officials said the move by the 15 countries would put pressure on India.
“Basically, they need to decide whether they are in or not,” said an official.
The leaders, in the statement, also said that their countries were committed to achieving a modern, comprehensive, high-quality and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement.
“Against the backdrop of a fast-changing global environment, the completion of the RCEP negotiations will demonstrate our collective commitment to an open trade and investment environment across the region.
“We are negotiating an agreement intended to further expand and deepen regional value chains for the benefit of our businesses, including small and medium enterprises, as well as our workers, producers and consumers.
“RCEP will significantly boost the region’s future growth prospects and contribute positively to the global economy, while serving as a supporting pillar to a strong multilateral trading system and promoting development in economies across the region,” the statement added.
Earlier yesterday, Malaysia and several regional leaders decided to skip the Asean-United States summit as a tit-for-tat for President Donald Trump’s failure to attend their annual meeting for a second straight year.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was one of the leaders who shunned the summit, which is held as part of a series of summits hosted by an Asean country.
This year Asean is chaired by Thailand, which would host meetings between Asean and world leaders among others from China, Japan, India, South Korea, Russia, Australia and New Zealand.