KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Malaysia supports the commitment by all participating countries in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to sign the free trade deal by this year, the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) said.

In a statement today, the ministry said the agreement would enhance regional economic integration, promote the flow of investments and minimise disruption to the global supply chains.

“The signing would demonstrate to the world Asean and its free trade agreement (FTA) partners’ collective endeavour to realising these objectives,” it said.

Once concluded and signed, the RCEP will be the largest FTA in the world covering nearly half of the world’s population while contributing one-third of the world’s gross domestic product.

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RCEP is a proposed FTA in the Indo-Pacific region between Asean members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and five of the association’s FTA partners—Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

Miti Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, who led Malaysia’s delegation in the RCEP’s virtual 10th inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting today, said the conclusion of RCEP negotiations was timely, considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly the unintended economic consequences of policy measures to counter the outbreak across the RCEP region.

“Hence the imperative for the RCEP participating countries (RPCs) of different levels of economic development to come together pledging to keep market and global supply chains open instead of maintaining protectionist measures that would only further hinder global trade as well as economic recovery from this pandemic,” he added.

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The senior minister also highlighted the importance of diversification and the need to forge greater resilience among RPCs so as to present an integrated market.

During the meeting, the ministers deliberated on the progress of the RCEP negotiations and provided guidance towards the conclusion and signing of the agreement by November this year.

Among the major outstanding issues discussed were market access and India’s stance in RCEP. India had been participating in the RCEP negotiations since 2012 but opted out of the proposed agreement.

According to Mohamed Azmin, Malaysia stands ready to actively pursue a course of positive engagement together with other RPCs on India’s continued participation in the RCEP.

“The participation of India would contribute to the advancement of prosperity for the region,” he said.

Nevertheless, he said, Malaysia agreed with other RPCs that progress towards the signing of the RCEP agreement would not be derailed regardless of India’s subsequent decision.

Once negotiations are concluded, Malaysia will undertake the necessary domestic administrative processes for preparation of the signing of the RCEP agreement in November 2020. — Bernama