Singapore PM reaffirms ambition for 2018 RCEP completion

Negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have reached “a critical stage,” Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said today.

Addressing the 50th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore, Prime Minister Lee said that negotiations are likely to be “substantively concluded,” this year, Straits Times reports.

His comments echo those of ASEAN foreign ministers, who outlined an ambition to complete negotiations by the end of 2018 earlier this month.

The RCEP, which comprises 10 ASEAN member states and six major Asia Pacific countries (China, India, Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand), has increased in significance as the global trade system came under pressure in the face of economic nationalism and the US-China trade war. During a visit to Delhi in July, Singapore Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan was reported as saying that “at this time when there is pushback against trade liberalisation in some of the more advanced parts of the world, it is all the more important for India and ASEAN to double down on the cause of free trade.”

However, progress on finalising the RCEP – which would represent the world’s largest trading bloc, covering a third of global gross domestic product – has been slow. India is seeking more concessions on trade in the services sector and is wary about its growing trade deficit with China, which currently stands at US$51 billion for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

According to the Economic Times, the Indian government has set up a Group of Ministers meeting to address key issues like its burgeoning trade deficit with China, job losses, and a dent in local manufacturing.