The Vietnamese side at the teleconferenced 8th RCEP Ministerial Meeting on August 27 (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The 8th Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial Meeting was held online on August 27under the chair of Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.
The event, attended by economic ministers of 15member countries, aimed to promote talks on the RCEP towards the signing ofthis agreement in late 2020 as ordered by RCEP leaders.
In his opening remarks, Minister Anh highlyvalued efforts by negotiators since the year’s beginning, noting that in-depthmeetings and discussions have still taken place on schedule despite theprolonged COVID-19 outbreak.
Participating officials acknowledged that thepandemic’s negative impact has generated many considerable challenges to tradeand investment flows in the region, including the countries participating inthe RCEP talks.
They highlighted the need for the members toensure that their markets remain open, especially to essential goods and services,and to continue enhancing cooperation to effectively respond to COVID-19.
The ministers emphasised the specialsignificance of the RCEP agreement amid economic uncertainties caused by thepandemic, believing that the deal signing will provide a basis forstrengthening the business community’s confidence, making the regional economicarchitecture more sustainable, and showing the region’s support for an open,comprehensive and rules-based multilateral trading system.
At the meeting, they also stressed the RCEP’srole in post-pandemic economic recovery, which will greatly help with stablegrowth of the global and regional economies.
Participants also recognised efforts and stridesin the RCEP negotiations to date so that the deal can be inked at the RCEPSummit this November.
In particular, they re-affirmed that the RCEPnegotiations remain open to India, saying this country engaged in negotiationssince the launch in 2012, and it holds potential for contributing to commonprosperity of the region.
The RCEP is a free trade agreement among the 10member states of ASEAN and its five partners, namely Australia, China, Japan, NewZealand, and the Republic of Korea. India withdrew from the talks inNovember 2019./.
VNA
