SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- A major breakthrough in the seven-year-long negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will improve export environments and build foundation for mutual benefits, the South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo said Tuesday.
The minister told a meeting with officials and business leaders in Seoul that the RCEP will enhance export environments of South Korean companies via the improved access to regional markets and the diversified trade partners.
It will also build the foundation for the participating countries, which had a difference in the economic development, to push for the cooperation of mutual benefits, the minister said.
His comment came a day after 15 participating countries concluded the text-based RCEP negotiations and all market access issues with an aim to sign the mega free-trade pact in 2020.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said at a RCEP summit in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday that the RCEP accord launched the world's biggest free trade that will unite a young, dynamic market in Asia, according to the presidential Blue House.
Moon expressed his anticipation that the RCEP will lower trade barriers, harmonize regulations, deepen cooperation and exchange, and spread further the value of free trade, while overcoming the global economic downturn together and respecting the diversity of each other.
Officially launched in 2012, the RCEP brought together 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their six trade partners in the region, namely China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
Once signed, the RCEP will form the largest free-trade bloc in Asia, covering 47.4 percent of the world's population and accounting for 32.2 percent of global GDP, 29.1 percent of trade worldwide and 32.5 percent of global investment.
