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ASEAN, partners to start FTA talks in November

The economic ministers of the ASEAN member countries and their regional counterparts have agreed to start negotiations on a new regional free trade agreement called Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in November.
The economic ministers of the ASEAN member countries and their regionalcounterparts have agreed to start negotiations on a new regional freetrade agreement called Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) in November.

The partners include Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand.

A joint statement after their meeting in the Cambodian province ofSiem Reap on August 30 said the RCEP is expected to transform theregion into an integrated market comprising over 3 billion people with acombined gross domestic product of about 17.23 trillion USD.

The ministers pledged to turn the RCEP into a model agreement whichhelps promote growth, development and integration among participatingcountries.-VNA
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