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Australia joins Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Australia will become part of the massive Asia-Pacific free-trade pact that covers half the world’s population. Regional leaders, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, agreed on a 15-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership at the East Asia Summit in Bangkok, Thailand. The pact includes Australia, China, Japan, Indonesia and New Zealand and 10 ASEAN countries — but not India — and is expected to be finalised by November next year. The countries involved produce about 29 per cent of global gross domestic product and account for half the world’s population. Nine of Australia’s top trading ... (full story)