October 13, 2020: The 15-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will hold its 10th Ministerial Meeting on the sidelines of the 37th ASEAN Summit, scheduled for November 11-15, 2020, hosted online by Viet Nam. The reported date for signing the RCEP is November 14. RCEP negotiations began in 2012, and India decided to withdraw in November 2019.
August 31, 2020: The official statement from the on-line meeting on August 27 of 15 Trade Ministers negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership said that they were "pleased with the significant progress made towards finalizing the RCEP Agreement for signing at the fourth RCEP Summit in November 2020,” and that “the RCEP remains open for India”.
August 6, 2020: Darell Leiking, Malaysia’s former minister of international trade and industry and MP for Penampang has confirmed that on November 29, 2019, the government decided that it had made the right decision in not ratifying the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). This was based on a one-year research effort, which had found potential negative impacts on domestic industry.
July 28, 2020: Following a recent meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and an assessment of the outcomes of all India’s free trade agreements by the Commerce & Industry and Finance Ministries, the Indian government has created four working groups to develop a new trade strategy to boost foreign investment and expo
July 1, 2020: AFTINET's submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade inquiry into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is here.
June 29, 2020: Trade Ministers from the 15 states negotiating the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership met virtually on June 23, 2020, but ignored an open letter from AFTINET and a previous letter from 94 community organisations from RCEP countries calling for release of the RCEP text, a pause in the RCEP negotiations and review of the text to ensure that its rules do not restrict government action to save lives during the current and future pandemics.
Media release June 18, 2020: “The Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network of 60 community groups has written to Trade Minister Birmingham ahead of a virtual meeting next week about the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP) calling for a pause in the negotiations and review of the text to ensure that its rules do not restrict government action to save lives during the current and future pandemics,” AFTINET Convener Dr Patricia Ranald said today.
June 3, 2020: In an astonishing backdown, the remaining 15 states negotiating for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership reportedly told the Indian government that it could defer any stronger market access commitments, and was welcome to sign the draft agreement in November 2020.
May 21, 2020: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s decision to quit the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership grouping, which includes the 10 ASEAN nations, in November 2019, and a new deadline for India to consider a new offer on market access expired on May 15, 2020.
May 4, 2020: The India Economic Times reports that 15 countries still trying to finalise the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership have made an offer to India on market access, and asked it to respond by May 15.