The 34th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, Thailand on June 23, 2019. (Photo: People's Daily)

BANGKOK (People's Daily) - "ASEAN must hold our hands tightly in negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), so it can conclude this year. It will help off-set any impact from the ongoing trade conflict,” said Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at the 34th ASEAN Summit, which ran from June 22 to 23 in Bangkok, Thailand.

RCEP includes all 10 ASEAN economies, plus India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

As the ASEAN host nation, Thailand rallied against global protectionism and called for urgency in concluding RCEP talks a China-led trade pact, which will lead to the world's largest free trade zone.

"The winds of protectionism are hurting our multilateral trading system." Prayut said.

During a plenary session Friday afternoon, ASEAN leaders concurred with Prayut on the need to prepare for global uncertainties and challenges, like the impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution, trade friction, and climate change.

The 34th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, Thailand on June 23, 2019. (Photo: People's Daily)

Through their connection with each other, the members reaffirmed commitments to the multilateral trading system and will work toward concluding RCEP negotiations by the end of 2019.

The chairman’s statement released after the summit said ASEAN recognized that the global economy is at an important crossroad with an increasing number of uncertainties and challenges.

"We reiterated our strong commitment to concluding RCEP negotiations to reinvigorate international trade and maintain ASEAN credibility and centrality. We urged the RCEP Ministers and officials to redouble their efforts to reach this target, guided by the RCEP Work Plan 2019. We also called for relevant ASEAN partners to prioritise the RCEP negotiations and to work with ASEAN to conclude the RCEP negotiations within this year," the statement said.

During a press conference following the summit, Prayut said the RCEP will help ASEAN manage regional change and uncertainty and “especially with regard to trade tension between ASEAN’s important trading partners.”

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at the 34th Asian Summit in Bangkok, Thailand on June 23, 2019. (Photo: People's Daily)