Mr Jurin says Thailand also wants to conclude FTA negotiations with Turkey next year and speed up talks with Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
India opted out from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) at the 3rd RCEP summit held in Bangkok in November 2019, at least until some of its core concerns are addressed. The fear of an import surge into India — particularly from China — as a result of the trade agreement was a major concern. There was difficulty negotiating rules of origin and safeguard measures, as well as service sector market access commitments. Some in India held the view that the impact of the trade pact on farming communities and small-scale industries would be adverse.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the call of not joining the RCEP agreement on November 4 in Bangkok, as India's concerns were not addressed in the pact.
As a major regional investor and security partner, Tokyo is stepping up
Japanese trade minister Hiroshi Kajiyama on Tuesday offered to help India resolve "outstanding issues" that pushed the South Asian country toward withdrawing from a sprawling Asia-Pacific free trade agreement.
Trade cooperation was a spotlight of the Vietnam-Laos relationship in the first ten months of this year, with revenue reaching 940 million USD.
ASEAN is likely to see a gradual rather than V-shaped recovery in 2020, with the five largest Asean economies expected to clock gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.5 per cent in 2020, picking up after having previously slowed to 4.3 per cent in 2019 from 4.9 per cent in 2018, according to Nomura Global Market Research’s Asia 2020 outlook, which covered nine major Asian economies.
Malaysia is committed to boost trade potential with South Korea, a national trade promotion agency reiterated in the wake of an ASEAN summit.
<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
