8th RCEP Inter-Sessional Ministerial Meeting 2019 held in Beijing, China

A two-day 8^th Inter-Sessional Ministerial Meeting of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) 2019  was held in Beijing, China on August 2-3, 2019 before the 7th RCEP ministerial meet which will be convened in Bangkok, Thailand on September 2019. In this meeting, all partner countries agreed to finalize trading deal negotiations.Commerce Secretary Dr. Anup Wadhawan led a delegation to the 8th RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial meeting 2019
The Commerce Secretary Dr. Anup Wadhawan represented India to the meeting. He underscored India’s contribution in shaping the RCEP negotiations till date & held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from China, Thailand, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Economic Ministers.
Key points:
i. In his meeting with Mr. Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce of China, Wadhawan lists out demands before China for market access including larger exports of drugs, sugar, rice, dairy, soybean, and other services.
ii. During the meeting with ASEAN Economic Ministers, he highlighted the importance of services trade which supports both goods trade and investment.
iii. The final statement issued after the meet stated that over two-thirds of market access negotiations have reached mutually satisfactory outcomes and that work on the remaining areas are being intensified through constructive engagements at all levels.
iv. The next inter-sessional trade negotiation meet will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia on August, 2019.
About RCEP:
i. It  is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) or comprehensive regional economic integration agreement between the 10-ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its 6- FTA partners (Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Japan and Korea).
ii. It aims to cover goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights under its ambit.