NEW DELHI: India’s commerce secretary Rita Teotia on Friday made a strong pitch for the inclusion and liberalisation of trade norms in the services sector, stating that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would be incomplete if services trade were not liberalised.
The RCEP is a multi-nation trade partnership including 10 Asean members - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam - and their six FTA partners including India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The agreement, negotiations for which started in Cambodian capital Phnom Penh in November 2012, aims to liberalise trade in goods and services besides investments and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights.
With the services sector accounting for more than 50 per cent of the GDP of all the RCEP countries, Teotia said “the area of concern is that an FTA (free trade agreement) cannot be one-sided and focus only on goods. Comparative advantages, sensitivities and ambitions of member countries will have to be given due recognition in order to achieve a balanced agreement”.
Teaotia pointed out that a balanced agreement will help promote economic growth and development of the region. “We stand committed to constructively engage in early and satisfactory conclusion of the negotiations,” she said, adding the 23rd round talks are underway in Bangkok. “RCEP would be incomplete if services sector is not sufficiently liberalised,” she said.
“I think the way forward is to collectively ensure that RCEP achieves a balanced and equitable outcome for all 16 member countries,” she added.Teotia also observed that a full trade war would severely impact all countries and it would have consequences on the recovery of global economy.