RCEP's request for cooperation Keizo Hatakeyama Visit India today 5:43 on December 10

The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry will visit India on the 10th. RCEP = East Asia Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with 16 countries including Japan and China, and asks the Indian government, which suggests withdrawal, to negotiate and cooperate together for a conclusion.

On the 10th, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry will visit the Indian capital, New Delhi, and meet with Indian government ministers such as Goyal Minister of Commerce and Industry.

The biggest theme is RCEP = Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia where 16 countries participate, including Japan, India, China and Korea, as well as ASEAN = member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Regarding RCEP last month, despite significant progress in negotiations at a summit in Thailand, India did not break its cautious posture and decided to sign next year.

However, because India has suggested withdrawal from negotiations against the backdrop of domestic opposition, some participants expressed their opinion that they should proceed within the framework of 15 countries except India.

In response to this, Japan is seeking to keep India, where there is a huge market, at RCEP, and Mr. Hatakeyama will continue to negotiate with India and ask them to cooperate together for a conclusion.

From 15th of this month, Prime Minister Abe will visit India and meet with Prime Minister Modi. The focus will be on how the Indian side will respond to Japan's request.

Great interest in staying in India negotiations

RCEP is the world's largest economic partnership agreement, where the population of participating countries is half of the world's population and GDP is 30% of gross domestic product and trade. Negotiations started in 2012 seven years ago.

There are 20 chapters in the negotiation field, such as “trade in goods” to discuss the elimination of tariffs on industrial products and agricultural products, “intellectual property” to control piracy, and “electronic commerce” to examine rules such as Internet transactions. The

A total of 16 countries including Japan, China, and India held a summit meeting in Thailand on the 4th of last month to negotiate and conclude.

The Joint Leaders Statement said that 15 countries except India have basically completed all negotiations, while `` India has important issues that remain unresolved, '' and the signature goal The deadline was postponed to next year.

However, after that, India also suggests a withdrawal from the negotiations, and as countries proceed to work towards the signing of the RCEP, there is great interest in whether India will remain in negotiations.

Japanese policy is ...

With regard to RCEP, the Japanese government has consistently expressed its intention to conclude and sign by 16 countries including India.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, there are 1441 Japanese companies operating in India as of December last year, a 2.6-fold increase over the past 10 years.

Japan wants to become a base for business and production of Japanese companies after China and ASEAN = Southeast Asian Union in the Asia-Pacific region by taking India with a huge market of 1.3 billion people into RCEP.

Another goal is to send a strong message to build a huge economic zone and promote free trade as the US and other countries strengthen protectionism.

India's circumstances and speculation ...

There is a sense of crisis that the domestic economy will be severely affected by this as it is, as a background suggesting that India will not leave the RCEP negotiations.

Since India has recorded a high annual GDP growth rate of around 7% in recent years, the promotion of free trade to RCEP is said to bring benefits to domestic industries. I have shown a positive attitude toward participation.

However, since the Modi administration entered its second fiscal period, the economy slowed down due to sluggish domestic consumption since the summer, and the growth rate of GDP from July to September was 4.5%, the lowest level in six years. I stayed at.

In addition, RCEP intensified the sense of crisis that the domestic economy, such as the manufacturing industry and agriculture, would suffer greatly if a large amount of cheap imported goods flowed in from China.

For this reason, at the RCEP negotiations held in Thailand last month, Prime Minister Modi said that “Gandhi and my conscience will not be allowed to participate,” referring to Gandhi, who is considered the father of Indian independence. This suggests the attitude of refraining from leaving the negotiations.

It seems that Prime Minister Modi is worried that the policy `` Make in India '' that aims to be a monozukuri state will be adversely affected, and it is unpredictable whether India will be able to negotiate again in the future .