India should be part of RCEP, CPTPP: Niti CEO

NEW DELHI: India should be a part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said on Thursday.
India pulled out of the RCEP in 2019 after entering negotiations in 2013. The RCEP bloc comprises 10 ASEAN group members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and their six FTA partners – China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
“India is one of few countries which are not a part of large trade agreements. India should be a part of RCEP and CPTPP and become a member,” Subrahmanyam said at an event organised by industry body Assocham. “…that will be best for India’s micro, small & medium enterprises sector. The 40% of India’s exports are from MSMEs. Big corporates are not great exporters,” he added.
CPTPP is a free trade bloc spanning five continents, made up of Pacific rim countries of Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan.
“I don’t think we have captured the ‘China plus one’ opportunity as much as we could have,” he said, adding that countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, and Mexico have probably benefited more from ‘China plus one’ than India. Agencies