Explainer | Why haven’t Philippines, Myanmar followed Indonesia and ratified the RCEP trade deal?

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free-trade agreement including the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)

Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea are also members of the world’s biggest trade deal, which took effect in most countries at the start of 2021

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The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free-trade agreement between the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members plus Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:00pm, 4 Sep 2022Updated: 1:44pm, 5 Sep 2022

The Philippines and Myanmar are the only countries yet to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) after Indonesia cemented its membership of the China-backed trade deal this week.

RCEP is a free-trade agreement between the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members plus Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.

Having been signed in November 2021, the deal took effect in Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam on January 1. South Korea followed a month later before the deal also became effective in Malaysia on March 17.

Indonesia’s parliament on Tuesday passed a law cementing the country’s membership.

As the world’s largest free-trade agreement, the deal covers nearly a third of the global population and around 30 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP), although this is expected to rise to 50 per cent by 2030, according to HSBC.

Tariffs on more than 65 per cent of trade in goods are expected to reach zero under the regional agreement, a figure that is expected to rise to around 90 per cent over the next 20 years.