New Delhi [India]: India has called for a balanced outcome in trade negotiations at the 8th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) inter-sessional ministerial meeting held in Beijing on August 2 and 3, an official statement said on Saturday.
RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam — and its six FTA partners — India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan led a delegation to the latest RCEP inter-sessional ministerial meet and highlighted India’s contribution in shaping the RCEP negotiations till date.
“He advocated a spirit of understanding accommodation and flexibility towards reaching a balanced outcome in the negotiations. India’s concerns regarding market access and other issues leading to imbalanced trade between some of the partner countries was specifically flagged during the meetings,” said the statement.
In his meeting with China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen, Wadhawan flagged bilateral market access related issues on various categories of products and called for easing business visas for Indian travellers.
He asked Thailand’s Permanent Secretary Boonyarit Kalayanamit to improve his offer in goods and services under RCEP. In his meeting with Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing, Wadhawan requested to support operationalisation of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement on nursing as agreed in the second Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) review and work towards speedy progress on the third CECA review.
During the meeting with ASEAN economic ministers, the Commerce Secretary highlighted the importance of services trade which supports both goods trade and investment. He also met Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham and both sides appreciated the need to move forward on services sector related issues.
Wadhawan asked for greater market access for Indian goods and services during his meeting with Indonesian Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita, South Korean Minister for Trade Myung Hee Yoo, Japanese Vice Minister for International Affairs S Tanaka and New Zealand’s Minister of State for Trade Damien O’ Connor. (ANI)