The third Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) opened in Hanoi on May 22, with the aim to speed up negotiations seeking to finalise the regional trade pact.
Attending the event were representatives from the ten ASEAN nations and their partners of Australia, China, the Republic of Korea, India, Japan and New Zealand.
Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said that the parties involved have exerted efforts to boost negotiations with a hope to expand economic integration on the basis of the existing positive cooperation between ASEAN and its six partners.
All of them expect the RCEP will create a stable and unified framework and facilitate the circulation of products, services and investment in the region.
The minister believed that for enterprises in the region, especially micro, small and medium ones, the agreement will facilitate their more efficient operations, help them approach new resources, bring their strengths into full play, and intensify their involvement in the regional value chain.
Vietnam supports the finalisation of RCEP negotiations in 2017, he affirmed, stressing the need for the related parties to promote bilateral negotiations to reach commitments on market opening.
At the meeting, participants agreed that concluding RCEP negotiations will deliver a clear and consistent message on door-opening policy and economic integration of regional countries, thus helping increase the attraction of RECP economies.
Discussions at the event contributed to narrowing differences in opinions on important issues and putting forward clear orientations for intensive discussions towards making basic progress in the following negotiation sessions.
NDO
