India will protect the industry’s interests and ensure opportunities for exporters while joining the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, being negotiated by 16 countries, according to commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, who said India has invited the other 15 nations on September 14-15 to discuss the pact.
RCEP participants are the 10-member Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.India will protect the industry's interests and ensure opportunities for exporters while joining the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, being negotiated by 16 countries, according to commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, who said India has invited the other 15 nations on September 14-15 to discuss the pact.#
As long as India's domestic industry and its national interest are protected, the faster RCEP is done the better it is for India, Indian media reports quoted Goyal as saying.
While half the industry supports joining RCEP, a section feels India should not, he said. However, national interest cannot be hijacked by one or two sectors and it has to be seen in an overall context, he said.
India registered a trade deficit in 2018-19 with as many as 11 RCEP member countries , including China, South Korea and Australia. RCEP has been under negotiation since November 2012 and aims to cover goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights.
Goyal added that the ministry is going to held consultative meetings with industry to explain ways of using these agreements in their interest. (DS)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "UBM China (Shanghai)")
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
