A Vietnamese delegation led by Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh attended the fifth Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which opened in Tokyo on 1 July.

Tanjong Pagar terminal in Singapore - Illustrative image

The event is a chance for the negotiating countries to review progresses of a series of important chapters of the RCEP, Minister Anh told Viet Nam News Agency. He highlighted efforts of parties to the RCEP over the past five years, saying there are differences because the RCEP is a large agreement and the development level of economies to the deal is different, leading to various benefit requirements.

Ministers from 16 Asia-Pacific countries joined the event, the first to be held outside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

In his speech, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for creating a free, rules-based and fair market.

Earlier, a meeting of heads of working groups was held in Japan and reached certain results in the fields such as e-commerce, customs procedures and intellectual property.

The 16 negotiating countries are the 10 ASEAN members -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam -- plus Japan, China, India, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

(Source: VNA/ DA NANG Today)