The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is set to be signed next month at the 4th RCEP Summit during the 37th ASEAN Summit in Vietnam in mid-November, Cambodian Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak said on Sunday.
Experts said the deal will open a wealth of new market opportunities for Cambodia to diversify its export portfolio and accelerate the inflow of regional investments.
RCEP is set to be the world’s largest free trade agreement (FTA), initially comprising 16 member countries and engaging more than 3.6 billion people, or 48.1 per cent of the world population, Thailand’s The Nation reported on Friday.
The combined gross domestic product (GDP) of RCEP member states was to the tune of $28.5 trillion last year, or 32.7 per cent of world GDP, and their combined trade was worth more than $11.2 trillion, or 29.5 per cent of world trade value.
Fifteen countries – with the notable exception of India which withdrew in November last year – will sign the deal. The members have not yet been able to respond to India’s concerns regarding its trade deficit with many of them, according to The Nation.
Besides the 10 ASEAN member states, the other five partners are China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cambodia-ready-sign-rcep-trade-agreement