The Philippines hopes to sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the ambitious free trade agreement (FTA), at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit that is currently taking place in the Thai capital of Bangkok, Philippine presidential communications secretary Martin Andanar said on Friday
BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st November, 2019) The Philippines hopes to sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the ambitious free trade agreement (FTA), at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit that is currently taking place in the Thai capital of Bangkok, Philippine presidential communications secretary Martin Andanar said on Friday.
The proposed deal is due to create a single free trade area for 10 ASEAN member states� � Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam � and their six FTA partners � China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The ambitious deal is expected to lead to the creation of the world's largest economic bloc, which is due to cover about half of the world economy. However, the disagreements between the signatories-to-be still exist, in particular, some states fear the huge export of cheap Chinese products into their countries.
"The perspective on the RCEP is the following: we have invested much time and effort into this project. For example, our Trade and Industry Department worked hard and used its resources to the fullest extent for the sake of the RCEP. We had numerous meetings with partners in the Asia-Pacific Region, so it would be a shame to end up with nothing," Andanar said.
The communications secretary expressed optimism about signing the deal, adding that it would be beneficial for the full economic and political cooperation between the states.
Bangkok is hosting the 35th ASEAN Summit from October 31-November 4. On the last day, the 10 ASEAN members will be joined by eight more counties � Russia, Australia, India, China, South Korea, New Zealand, the United States and Japan � for the East Asia Summit.
