The city hosts 28th round of negotiations for RCEP until 27 Sept

On Monday, representatives from 16 countries worldwide gathered in Da Nang for the opening ceremony of the 28th round of negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

RCEP delegates taking a souvenir photo

On behalf of the city leaders, municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung attended the international event.

In his remarks at the event, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh highly lauded the great efforts made by heads of delegations and negotiators from the 16 participating countries since early this year in RCEP’s negotiations.

He remarked “More than ever, the closer the deal gets to the finish line the greater political determination are required from RCEP’s sides to find suitable solutions to the remaining obstacles”.

Minister Anh asked the participating countries to make every effort to find creative and flexible solutions to handle pressing problems.

He also highlighted the significance of the 28th round of negotiations in finding ways to overcome technical barriers before submitting the draft of the trade partnership to leaders of respective countries.

“Being the host of this round of talks cum the Chair of ASEAN in 2020, Viet Nam will do its utmost to cooperate well with the participating countries to reach the RCEP deal which ensures a harmonious balance between RCEP countries, as well as the region” Mr Anh emphasised.

The final round of negotiations for RCEP is expected to conclude on 27 September.

RCEP is a free trade agreement between ten ASEAN member states and its six partners namely Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.

Once in effect, RCEP is expected to become the world’s largest regional trade agreement as it covers the market size of about 3.5 billion consumers and contributes about 39% of global gross domestic product (GDP) with the GDP scale of about US$ 49,500 billion.

Countries have pledged to open their doors to goods, services and investment activities and to simplify custom procedures. Also, the gap between RCEP countries in such aspects as investment and intellectual property has been significantly narrowed.

DA NANG Today