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RCEP
Why is it in the news?
- Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal met with representatives from various Export Promotion Councils ahead of RCEP ministerial talks.
- The 16-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Free Trade Agreement ministerial talks in Beijing is set to held on August 2 and 3.
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Industry Concerns:
- The industry remain worried about the “detrimental” consequences of the RCEP agreement.
- Indian manufacturing sector continues to be apprehensive of competition from China and is demanding higher protection.
- Also, as per the past experience, whenever India has rushed into an FTA negotiation, trade deficits have always widened with nations after signing free-trade-agreements with them.
Australia's response:
- Responding to the criticism of RCEP, the Australian High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu said it was the industry’s responsibility to use the FTAs well.
- Australia is leading diplomats from various countries to convince India to commit to the deal by the end of the year.
Other Challenges:
- Managing industry concerns is one challenge for the Centre in the month leading up to the RCEP summit in Bangkok in November.
- The other challenge would be if RCEP countries decide to go ahead without countries like India, and leave the door open for India to join at a later date, something Ms. Sidhu said would be a “deeply disappointing” outcome.
About RCEP:
- RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) or comprehensive regional economic integration agreement between the 16 Asia-pacific countries.
- It includes 10-ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its six FTA partners (Australia, New Zealand,India, China, Japan and Korea).
- It is aimed at maintaining regional growth by ensuring the markets of participating countries remain open and competitive.
Source
The Hindu.