Illustrative image (Photo: The Nation Thailand) Bangkok (VNA) – Thai Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit will represent Thailand tosign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) by the middle of this month, said the Bangkok Post on November 7.
According to schedule, the RCEP Summit will be held on November 15 as part of a series of regular summit meetings online to be hosted by Vietnam, as ASEAN Chair, from November 12-15.
The RCEP is a free-trade agreement (FTA) proposed by 10 ASEANmember states and six dialogue partners, namely China, Japan, the Republic of Korea,India, Australia and New Zealand.
Negotiations on RCEP started in late 2012 at the 21st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh.
A statement from RCEP said the 15 participatingcountries have concluded text-based negotiations for all 20 chapters and marketaccess issues. With or without India, the RCEP agreement has beenscheduled for official signing this year, coming into force either in 2021 orJanuary 2022.
In 2019, the population of RCEP members topped3.6 billion, with a combined GDP worth more than 28.5 trillion USD, making up32.7 percent of the world's GDP. The trade volume of members was 11.2 trillion USDor 29.5 percent of world trade./.
