Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Chile seeking to join RCEP trade bloc

Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Chile are seeking to join the China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's largest trade bloc, Southeast Asian officials said on Thursday. 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...