Asean leaders at the bloc’s 34th summit in Bangkok last month. in June. Photo: EPA
Deal or no deal: is Asean’s RCEP trade pact going the way of the TPP?
- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is envisaged as spanning territories home to 3.5 billion people, with a GDP of US$22.6 trillion
- But after seven years of negotiations, nothing concrete has emerged. Will the impasse finally be broken this year, as promised?
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Asean
Asean leaders at the bloc’s 34th summit in Bangkok last month. in June. Photo: EPA
Ministers from 16 Asia-Pacific countries meet in Singapore to discuss the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free-trade pact. Photo: Kyodo
Explained: the difference between the RCEP and the CPTPP
- The RCEP is the latest in an alphabet soup of trade agreements proposed for Asia – and it’s not to be confused with the CPTPP (RIP, TPP)
- The FTA, if it goes ahead, would create the world’s largest trade bloc, encompassing a quarter of global GDP
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Trade
Ministers from 16 Asia-Pacific countries meet in Singapore to discuss the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free-trade pact. Photo: Kyodo