"Without India, the RCEP will become less attractive," said Visit Limlurcha, vice-chairman of the Thai National Shippers' Council. "The population of the RCEP with India is about 3.5 billion, but the number will be slashed by 1.3 billion without the subcontinent." "India has significant outstanding issues that remain unresolved," the RCEP countries said in a joint statement on Nov 4. The country has also been logging trade deficits with other RCEP countries, including Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, New Zealand and Thailand. As an export-dependent economy, Thailand "needs" the RCEP to integrate its economy further into supply chains and larger markets in Asia-Pacific, Mrs Elms said.

Source: Bangkok Post November 10, 2019 23:20 UTC