The United States lacks both a rcEP and a successor to the Obama-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), meaning the world`s largest economy consists of two trading groups that make up the world`s fastest growing region. „I`m not sure that trade in general will be much of a focus, including re-accession efforts,“ Charles Freeman, senior vice president for Asia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said this month. Ken Kobayashi, president of the Japanese Foreign Trade Council, told reporters that the trade agreement was very important to Japan. India would be the third largest economy in the RCEP. Analysts believe that India could lose investment when its consumers may end up paying more than they should, especially when global trade, investment and supply chains face unprecedented challenges due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The countries of the RCEP agreement would also lose the opportunity to access the Indian market, which is notoriously difficult to achieve in the current global economic context. The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), formerly known as the Bangkok Agreement[1] and renamed on November 2, 2005,[2] was signed in 1975. It is the oldest preferential trade agreement between countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Seven participating states – Bangladesh, China, India, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka – are parties to APTA. The APTA pact occupies the market for 2921.2 million people [2] and the size of this large market represents $14615.86 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) in the 2015-16 fiscal year. [3] APTA`s main objective is to accelerate economic development among the seven participating states that opt for trade and investment liberalization measures that, through the coverage of goods and services, synchronized investment and the free transfer of technology, will contribute to the coverage of intra-regional trade and economic strengthening.
Its aim is to promote economic development and cooperation through trade liberalization measures. The AptA is open to all members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, which serves as the secretariat of APTA. APTA members are currently participating in the fourth round of tariff concessions, which is expected to end in October 2009. [4] According to local media, the mega-trade agreement between 15 countries in Asia and the Pacific, which covers about 46% of Japan`s total trade, will be the country`s first trade agreement with China, its largest trading partner, and with South Korea, its third. Ten member countries of the Association of South Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand signed the RCEP on Sunday, launching the world`s largest free trade bloc. The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) is a preferential regional trade agreement, formerly known as the Bangkok Agreement.