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New Delhi, July 2 (PTI) The trade ministers of the 16 countries of the Global Regional Economic Partnership (RCEP), including India and China, pledged to reach an agreement that will help promote the Regional Economic Integration
is intended to cover goods, services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights.
Ministers recognized the importance of a positive conclusion of the pact given the current global trading environment. It was published after the fifth inter-ministerial intersessional meeting of the RCEP held on 1 July in Tokyo
Anup Wadhawan, Special Duty Officer (OSD) and Secretary of Commerce Designate, Minister of Commerce. Suresh Prabhu at the meeting.
"… the Ministers reaffirmed their willingness to work together and to complete the negotiations of the RCEP and reach an agreement that would allow economies of different levels to actively participate and benefit from open and inclusive regional economic integration, he said.
Members also agreed to work by putting more emphasis on finding breakthroughs for the conclusion of negotiations.
"To this end, the ministers have instructed the negotiators to focus their efforts on achieving a set of end-of-year results, "he added.
They also asked the negotiators to improve the market access offers.
The meeting becomes important as the pressure on India rises for the rapid conclusion of the proposed pact.
The RCEP group comprises 10 asean members (Brunei , Camb odge, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and their six FTA partners – India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. 19659002] The talks dragged on because the member countries want an agreement on the elimination of customs duties on the maximum number of products traded between them. However, countries like India have some reservations about this because the group includes China, with which New Delhi has a huge trade deficit.
The Indian industry and exporters fear the presence of China in the grouping. They said lowering or eliminating duties for China could flood Indian markets with Chinese products.
Moreover, countries like India want greater liberalization of trade in services, key element of the national economy. PTI RR ABM ABM
This is an unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India thread
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