Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Chile and Bangladesh are seeking to join the China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECEP), the world's largest trade bloc, Southeast Asian officials said on Thursday (25 September).
The RCEP currently consists of China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and all ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
RCEP officials, who are meeting on the sidelines of a gathering of ASEAN trade and economic ministers in Malaysia this week, said they had few objections to accepting new applicants and will work towards bringing the four economies into the bloc.
"We are of course in support of any countries that are willing to join the RCEP," Indonesia's Vice Minister of Trade Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia's trade minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said any decision on new RCEP members will be discussed when the bloc's leaders meet for the first time in five years in October.
Some analysts have described the RCEP as a potential buffer against tariffs imposed by the United States, though its provisions are considered weaker than some other regional trade deals due to competing interests among its members.
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The detention of Israel’s former military Advocate General has been extended until Friday as investigators probe the leaking of a video showing soldiers allegedly abusing a Palestinian detainee.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday instructed senior officials to prepare proposals for potential nuclear weapons testing, following President Trump’s announcement last week that Washington would resume such tests.
The eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk has emerged as a critical point in Russia’s campaign to seize the remaining Ukrainian-held parts of Donetsk, and its fate could shape the course of the conflict in the region.
Israel’s top military legal officer Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who resigned last week, has been arrested over the leak of a video showing soldiers brutally assaulting a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman military prison.
Brussels airport, Belgium's busiest, reopened on Wednesday morning after drone sightings during the previous night had resulted in it being temporarily closed, although some flights remained disrupted, its website said.
Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan vowed on Monday to move on from deadly protests set off by last week's disputed election as she was sworn into office for her first elected term.
Russia remains in constant contact with Venezuela over tensions in the Caribbean, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
The detention of Israel’s former military Advocate General has been extended until Friday as investigators probe the leaking of a video showing soldiers allegedly abusing a Palestinian detainee.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday instructed senior officials to prepare proposals for potential nuclear weapons testing, following President Trump’s announcement last week that Washington would resume such tests.
A French court has postponed the trial of a suspect linked to the Louvre jewellery heist in a separate case, citing heavy media scrutiny and concerns about the fairness of the proceedings.
Chinese E-commerce giant Shein faces another set back as French Ministry of Finance initiates a procedure to suspend its platform in France until it can demonstrate compliance with the country's laws.
The death toll from the crash of a UPS cargo plane that erupted into a fireball moments after takeoff in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday has risen to nine, city and state officials said Wednesday.
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