Vietnam attends Preparatory RCEP Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh led the Vietnamese delegation to attend the Preparatory Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand on November 1.
Vietnam attends Preparatory RCEP Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok ảnh 1Illustrative image (Photo: ASEAN)
Bangkok (VNA) – Deputy Minister of Industry andTrade Tran Quoc Khanh led the Vietnamese delegation to attend the Preparatory RegionalComprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok,Thailand on November 1.

The meeting was within the framework of the ongoing 35th ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Thailand, the Chair of ASEAN in 2019.

The Vietnamese delegation active participated in discussionson measures to conclude negotiations on RCEP and market opening towards thegoal of signing of the deal in Vietnam next year.

At the meeting, ministers sought ways to remove remainingobstacles regarding the wording and market opening in RCEP. They  lauded negotiators’ efforts this year and agreedon a report on the negotiation progress to submit to leaders.

Speaking after the ASEAN Economic Committee (AEC) CouncilMeeting on October 31, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of CommerceJurin Laksanawisit said ASEAN and six trade partners are still optimistic aboutmaking breakthrough in RCEP negotiations.

RCEP talks began in November 2012 with a view to promotingeconomic cooperation between ASEAN and six countries that signed free trade agreementswith the bloc, which are China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Indiaand New Zealand.

Thailand hopes to conclude the talks this year when thecountry serves as ASEAN Chair.

RCEP will cover 16 nations which account for 30 percent of theworld’s total gross domestic product.

RCEP member countries have a combined population of 3.56billion people and a trade value of over 1 trillion USD, or 29 percent of theworld’s total./.
VNA

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