ASEAN along with India ready to form mega economic cooperation
Members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their six free trade partners are likely to discuss ways to form a mega economic partnership. All 10 countries of ASEAN and their free trade agreements (FTA) partners—India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand—are expected to hold a minister-level meeting in Kuala Lumpur next month, according to a report. The meeting is aimed at settling various issues related to trade in goods and services and pave the way for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement between them. Analysts say that such a forum is important for India and other emerging economies to enhance trade, especially when a series of negotiations at the World Trade Organisation has failed to make any headway due to conflict of interests between developing and advanced countries. There is no doubt that economic partnership among these countries that contribute around 25% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)will strengthen their position at the WTO. The 16-party RCEP, launched in Phnom Penh two years ago, is expected to conclude its negotiations by the end of this year. The comprehensive economic partnership aims to deal with issues related to trade in goods, services, investment, intellectual property, competition and dispute settlement among the member countries. Besides enhancing trade activities across the region, India has also asked members to explore ways to improve value addition in services trade. Having an edge in Information Technology (IT) and IT-enabled services across the world, the sector has a major contribution in India’s economic growth. Experts say that the RCEP has the potential to club the entire region as an integrated market that houses world’s 45% population.
June 01, 2015 | 8:34 pm IST.
to success.