15 países se han unido, dejando
fuera a India que no se ha sumado…
Asia Pacific Nations Sign Biggest Regional Trade Deal
15 nations including China, Japan and
Australia are on board
Asia
Pacific nations including China, Japan and South Korea on Sunday signed the
world’s largest regional free-trade agreement, encompassing nearly a third of
the world’s population and gross domestic product.
Top
officials from 15 nations that also include Australia, New Zealand and the 10
members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations inked the Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP -- nearly a decade in the making --
on the final day of the 37th Asean Summit hosted virtually by Vietnam.
“The
completion of negotiations is a strong message affirming Asean’s role in
supporting the multilateral trade system,” Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen
Xuan Phuc said ahead of the virtual signing ceremony. The agreement will
contribute to “developing supply chains that have been disrupted due to the
pandemic as well as supporting economic recovery,” he said.
Why China Is Creating a New Asia-Pacific
Trade Pact: QuickTake
A
minimum of six Asean countries in addition to three non-Asean partners must
ratify RCEP for it to come into force, Singapore’s Minister of Trade and
Industry Chan Chun Sing told reporters following the signing. Singapore plans
to approve the deal “in the next few months,” he said.
Supporters
of the trade pact, which covers 2.2 billion people with a combined GDP of $26.2
trillion, said it will bolster pandemic-weakened economies by reducing tariffs,
strengthening supply chains with common rules of origin, and codifying new
e-commerce rules.
Among the benefits of the agreement include a tariff elimination of at least 92% on traded goods among participating countries, as well as stronger provisions to address non-tariff measures, and enhancements in areas such as online consumer and personal information protection, transparency and paperless trading, according to a statement issued on Sunday by Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry. It also includes simplified customs procedures while at least 65% of services sectors will be fully open with increased foreign shareholding limits.
India
Exit
Negotiators
pushed the deal across the finish line after India surprised participants late
last year by abandoning the agreement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he
pulled out over concerns about how RCEP would affect the livelihoods of
Indians, particularly the most vulnerable. India, though, will be allowed to
rejoin the trade pact.
“The
clause allowing India to join at a later date is symbolic and shows China’s
desire to build economic bridges with the region’s third-largest economy,” said
Shaun Roache, Asia Pacific chief economist at S&P Global Ratings.
Malaysia
recognizes the difficulties India is facing, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin
said in a speech on Sunday.
“Nevertheless,
we wish to express our continuous support and welcome its accession to RCEP in
the future.”
Whether
RCEP changes regional dynamics in favor of China depends on the U.S. response,
experts said. The agreement underscores how U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2017
decision to withdraw from a different Asia Pacific trade pact -- the Trans-Pacific
Partnership or TPP -- diminished America’s ability to offer a counterbalance to
China’s growing regional economic influence.
Biden’s
challenge
That
challenge will shift to President-elect Joe Biden if, as expected, he’s
officially named the winner of the Nov. 3 election. Still uncertain is how the
Biden team will approach trade deals and whether it tries to re-enter the
11-nation TPP.
Nations
party to the treaty see it hastening economic recoveries from the global
pandemic.
Australian
farmers and businesses will benefit from “better export opportunities” under the
RCEP pact, its government said on Sunday. There are greater investment
certainties for companies and gains for Australian providers within the
financial services, education, health and engineering sectors, it said.
“Our
trade policy is all about supporting Australian jobs, boosting export
opportunities and ensuring an open region with even stronger supply chains,”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement. “With one in five Australian
jobs reliant on trade, the RCEP agreement will be crucial as Australia and the
region begin to rebuild from the Covid‑19 pandemic.”
The
trade agreement will help Indonesia recover from the pandemic and possibly
increase its GDP by 0.05% from 2021 to 2032, Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto said
at a briefing. Citing a private study, he added that RCEP could boost exports
by as much as 11% and investment by as much as 22% five years after its
ratification.
Japan
too is looking for the pact to be a catalyst for its post-coronavirus economy,
Japanese trade minister Hiroshi Kajiyama told reporters.
“Through
the tariff removals, I believe there’ll be a major impact on improving Japan’s
exports and making the region’s supply chains more efficient,” he said. “I
strongly believe we are building free and fair economic rules through
introducing new rules on data free flows and the banning of demands for
technology transfers, as well as the protection of intellectual property.”
The
agreement will make exports of participating countries more competitive and
create an integrated market for China and regional nations, Singapore’s Chan
said.
“Over
the past years, there have been several ups and downs and it has certainly not
been an easy journey,” he said. “At one point, the prospects of concluding the
agreement were shaken by geopolitical and domestic preoccupations. We have all
had to make difficult trade-offs to advance the negotiations.”
Abrazos,
PD1: Ha sido muy emocionante.
Le vimos al nuevo diácono antes de la ceremonia. Estuvimos todo el viernes con
él. La ceremonia fue espectacular de bonita. Y se nos presentó en el hotel por
la noche a que le viéramos de negro… Ayer celebró su primera Misa con nosotros
e hizo su primera homilía. Impresionante la facilidad que demostró, la buena
formación que había recibido… Nos bendijo varias veces, a su familia, a las
embarazadas… Nos llevó en furgoneta al aeropuerto y nos dio otra vez la
bendición del buen viaje… No puedo dar más que gracias a Dios por todo lo que
hemos vivido. Mi hijo es el tercero desde la izquierda
El mensaje del Obispo fue muy claro a los 27 nuevos diáconos: Acoged, comprended, acompañad… y sobre todo, servir.
