RCEP Meets in Cebu, Philippines

Final Round in December at Indonesia

Negotiations for the 16-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are increasingly making progress towards crafting a future trade and investment deal, officials say, though whether talks will be concluded this year as previously envisioned is less clear.

The proposed RCEP agreement, for which negotiations commenced in 2012, includes 16 economies in the Asia-Pacific, comprising almost half of the global population and a third of the world’s GDP. The scope of the free trade agreement covers goods, services, and investment, as well as competition, intellectual property rights, and dispute settlement.

The joint statement issued by the ministers at the meeting’s close highlighted challenges facing the global economy, including slow projected growth in world trade – where the WTO figures were recently revised downward – and creeping protectionist sentiments.

They also directed their negotiators to ramp up their work in goods and services trade, as well as investment. However, the statement omits any mention of when the group is aiming to conclude the talks.

APEC leaders to meet at the end of the month: The final RCEP negotiating round scheduled for 2016 will be held in December in Indonesia. It was not yet clear at press time whether and when they might be holding additional rounds in 2017.