India offering ’far deeper’ proposals in RCEP : Commerce Secretary
Press Trust of India | 27 March 2017
India offering ’far deeper’ proposals in RCEP : Commerce Secretary
Pitching for liberalisation of trade in services, India today said it is offering "far deeper" proposals in the proposed mega deal RCEP than most of the other member nations of the grouping.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a mega trade agreement being negotiated among 16 countries including ASEAN, India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia also said India will give more concessions in RCEP than any other country will do.
"In RCEP and several negotiations in terms of investments and services, India is able to offer far deeper offers and proposals than most of the counterpart countries," she said here at a function.
She said that in RCEP, "The difficulty is that, while we see countries able to match the breadth of India’s offers, so far it is very hard for countries to match the depth".
The statement assumes significance as India is pressing for greater market access in the services sector, particularly easy movement of professionals, in the RCEP negotiations.
The mega trade deal aims to cover goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights.
Emphasising on the importance of trade in services, she said the sector holds huge potential to boost economic growth and create employment in all economies.
