Thailand to hold next round of RCEP meet in February

NEW DELHI: RCEP, a grouping of 16 nations, including India, China and Australia, will meet next month in Thailand to resolve issues for concluding a mega trade deal covering various sectors.

In the sixth round of talks, which concluded in India last month, the country had asked RCEP members to focus on value addition in services, besides working towards improving investment climate to spur trade and boost regional growth.

The 16 economies of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership account for over a quarter of the world economy. The RCEP negotiations were launched in Phnom Penh in November 2012.

"The seventh round will happen in Thailand during the second week of next month," an official said.

The members have to resolve issues related both to the goods and services sector, he said.

The mega trade deal aims to cover goods and services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property.

India's interests mainly lie in the services sector. It is pressing for parallel negotiations in goods and services to ensure that the proposed agreement benefits all nations.

India is pressing for services agreement as the sector contributes over 50 per cent to the country's economic growth. Indian IT companies have strong presence across the globe.

The 16-member RCEP comprises 10 Asean members and its six Free Trade Agreement ( FTA) partners - India, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

RCEP is viewed as a very important institutional process that could lead to a plurilateral agreement which will have significant consequences for its partners.

India has implemented FTAs with countries including Japan, South Korea, Asean, Singapore and Malaysia.