Signed at a time when COVID-19 has ravaged the global economy, RCEP is deemed as an important building block in a new world order.
The RCEP is a free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region between the ten ASEAN states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and five of their FTA partners (Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea). The 15 member countries account for about 30% of the world’s population and GDP, making RCEP the largest trade agreement.
It is expected that the RCEP will complement and build upon Australia’s existing free trade agreements. It is a modern and comprehensive free trade agreement covering trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, and new rules for electronic commerce, intellectual property, government procurement, competition and small and medium sized enterprises.
The newly signed RCEP has the potential to lower tariffs and improve access to markets in our region. It will overlay a vast number of free trade agreements Australia currently has in place, which is welcoming news for those in the import and export sector. International exports of goods and services are critically important to Australia, together contributing 41% of nominal GDP.