RCEP: Building Bridges,Not Walls

The parliamentary ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement by 10 signatory states has finally set the world's biggest ever free trade bloc into motion, albeit only among the ratifying na-tions, on January 1, 2022. Six Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, as well as Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand, have completed the ratification procedures. The RCEP was also signed by another four ASEAN members, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines, as well as the Republic of Korea (ROK). Once in full effect, it will cover approximately 30 percent of the world's population and one third of global GDP. The agreement manifests the firm commitment of all 15 signatory economies in the Asia-Pacific region to upholding an open, inclusive and rules-based multilateral trading system. Its implementation is particularly timely for the region as its economies struggle to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and rising trends of de-globalization.