NONTHABURI: Leaders from fast-growing South-East Asian economies, China, Japan and other regional powers are aiming for a breakthrough on a free trade deal and an outline for handling territorial tensions at an annual summit that opened near Bangkok on Sunday.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told fellow leaders the summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations should produce a basic agreement on their proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a 16-member trade bloc encompassing nearly a third of all global trade.