Minister of State of Commerce and Industry, C. R. Chaudhary on Tuesday said that the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) between ten ASEAN member states and their six FTA partners will benefit Indian MSMEs.

It would also facilitate India’s MSMEs to effectively integrate into the regional value and supply chains, said the minister in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

The RCEP, which is a proposed Free Trade Agreement between ten ASEAN member states and their six Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners namely India, Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and Republic of Korea, is expected to provide market access for India’s goods and services exports and encourage greater investments and technology into India, he said.

On the other hand, India is not a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) which is a grouping of twenty-one countries in the Asia Pacific region with an aim to deepen and strengthen economic and technological cooperation amongst APEC member countries, it added.

In another reply, the minister said some industry associations including those relating to steel have expressed concerns on imports under bilateral free trade agreements with Japan, Korea and ASEAN.

However, steel imports from these countries include high grade steel, which are not manufactured domestically, he said.

The volume of trade, including both exports and imports with these countries has increased since the signing of the bilateral trade agreements. Notwithstanding a slight increase in trade deficit, the domestic industry has benefited from the trade agreements due to cheaper import of raw materials and intermediates from these countries for stimulating value added domestic manufacturing, the minister added.

The trade agreements have adequate trade remedial provisions for dealing with certain surges in imports that might threaten domestic industry, he said.