In order to ensure hassle-free movement of businessmen in the 16-member bloc Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) under the mega trade deal, India has proposed RCEP business visa card. In this regard negotiations are likely to be concluded next year. Such cards are issued only after thorough security clearances. India is of the view that negotiations on services for the free trade agreement are not picking pace.
The 16-member bloc RCEP is negotiating a mega trade agreement that aims to cover goods, services, investments, economic and technical co-operation, competition and intellectual property rights. The Indian Commerce Ministry however has said that several areas still required to be negotiated to finality. The Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also indicated that the negotiations might not conclude this year and move into the first half of 2018. On the visa issue, she said that ‘We have actually given a proposal for RCEP business card. So we have proposed that for business people, like APEC member countries have APEC business cards, similarly we have asked for RCEP members.’ She added that negotiations on services, a key area of interest for India, are not picking pace. Sitharaman pointed out that a selective approach to the detriment of services would not be in the best interest of RCEP negotiations, and would be failing to acknowledge, promote and protect the strength and mutually beneficial nature of the current relationship.
Indian companies with limited expatriate presence had created over 100,000 local jobs in the RCEP countries. India wants the member nations to abide by the commitments already made in the services sector and then move forward in the RCEP talks. The 16 countries account for over a quarter of the world's economy, estimated to be more than $75 trillion. RCEP comprises 10 ASEAN members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and their six FTA partners -- India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
