Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu leads delegation for RCEP meet in Singapore

Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu is leading a delegation at a meeting of the trade ministers of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries in Singapore, beginning Monday.

Trade ministers of the 16-member RCEP are meeting to continue efforts to resolve the issues are hindering the conclusion of the negotiations.

RCEP is a pact that aims to cover goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights.

The chief negotiators had recently concluded the 24th round of the meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, last month, the ministry said.

India has a free trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan and South Korea.