RCEP to be signed soon: Indonesian trade ministry

India withdraws from RCEP negotiations in November last year (Source: internet)

Jakarta (VNA) - The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has entered the legal scrubbing phase and is expected to be signed soon without India, according to the Indonesian Trade Ministry.

Deputy Trade Minister Jerry Sambuaga said the participating countries now comprise the 10 ASEAN member states, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand, but the door is still open for India in case it decides to join the negotiations again.

India withdrew from RCEP negotiations in November last year, he said.

India is Indonesia's fifth-largest export market. According to data from the United Nations International Trade Statistics Database, Indonesia’s top export to its South Asian peer is coal, with value reaching 4.81 billion USD in 2019./.