Department of Trade Negotiations to discuss RCEP at 35th ASEAN Summit

 

   

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Department of Trade Negotiations is to discuss the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) issue, at the 35th ASEAN Summit, with the outcome of the negotiations expected to be jointly announced on November 4, 2019.

 

The Director-General of the Department of Trade Negotiations, Oramon Sapthaweetham, said today that her agency is ready to discuss the RCEP issue at the 35th ASEAN Summit. The 16 participating RCEP countries are the 10 ASEAN member states, as well as China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. - The RCEP negotiations commenced in early 2013, with negotiators having agreed on 14 of the 20 chapters. Some of the remaining chapters deal with trade remedies and investment and e-commerce.

 

At the event, the Ministry of Commerce will oversee the ASEAN Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) and the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM). Key topics include tariff eliminations, the RCEP, the improvement of the ASEAN Dispute Settlement Mechanism and the region’s automotive and car parts sector.

 

Once concluded, the RCEP will create a market of over 3.5 billion people accounting for one third of global trade. Thailand will enjoy benefits, such as free trade and investment. The partnerships will make Thailand the prime production and distribution base for ASEAN.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2019-11-01

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On 11/1/2019 at 10:39 AM, webfact said:

Thailand will enjoy benefits, such as free trade

It's usually a 'two-way street' or in the case of RCEP it's a 'sixteen-way street.'

While Thailand gets a steady export market it must also become a steady import market with equally binding and enforceable tariff rules (ie., no tariffs, minimal tariffs, etc.).

Nations best accomplished to accommodating open competition both domestically as well as within the RCEP will benefit while nations least accomplished will suffer in the transition. 

The RCEP isn't like the ASEAN trade agreements that Thailand appears to abuse to its own benefit, ie., use of "specialized" tariffs imposed on ASDEAN imports to protect Thailand's domestic business sectors.