Trade pact RCEP to be concluded this year, signed in 2020 —Trade chief Lopez
GMA News (18/10/2019) - The discussions on the comprehensive trade pact between Southeast Asian countries and its dialogue partners will reach conclusion this year and be signed in early 2020, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Friday.
“With 20 out of the 25 chapters concluded in the last meeting in Vietnam, the full conclusion of the RCEP this year is very probable. A positive report can be presented to the Heads of State when they meet for the 3rd RCEP Leaders’ Summit in November,” Lopez said in a statement.
Launched in 2012, the China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) aims to create a free trade agreement among 10 ASEAN members - a market of 600 million people – with its six dialogue partners to create an even bigger market of 1.3 billion.
The Trade chief noted that the five remaining chapters of the RCEP to be discussed include the Rules of Origin, Trade Remedies, Trade in Services, Investment, and E-commerce.
“Trade ministers expect that the remaining chapters will be concluded before the end of the month and any remaining issue will be part of a work plan for resolution at the soonest,” Lopez said.
To meet this deadline, two additional meetings were scheduled prior to the 3rd RCEP Leaders’ Summit.
Trade negotiators will meet on October 17 to 19 and the results of their meeting will be presented in the next Ministerial Meeting.
The RCEP covers 16 participating countries, which account for almost half of the world’s population, about 30% of global gross domestic product, and over a quarter of world exports.
The Philippines is one of the participating countries, along with the rest of the nine ASEAN member states - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.
After RCEP’s conclusion, Lopez said the Philippines will enjoy lower trade barriers and increased market access for its goods and services to its 15 country partners.
The agreement also has a chapter on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to ensure that RCEP’s benefits are not confined to large companies.
“RCEP parties are pushing for their respective interests and there are naturally complexities in the negotiations, amidst the backdrop of a changing global economic environment,” Lopez said.
“This atmosphere has intensified in the last stretch of negotiations, but just the same, a higher level of flexibility and reasonableness are needed to ensure its conclusion,” he added. — RSJ, GMA News