Thailand ready to join world’s largest free trade agreement on Sunday

Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit is scheduled to sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on Sunday (November 15) at a virtual meeting of Asean countries and their partners.
The RCEP will cover all 10 Asean member states plus five partners: China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.
The RCEP will take effect from the middle of 2021 if at least six Asean members and three partners agree to its terms. The Thai Cabinet will consider the final agreement before it is sent to Parliament for final approval.
The largest free trade agreement will encompass almost 3.6 billion people (48.1 per cent of world population), with a combined GDP of more than $28.5 trillion (32.7 per cent of world GDP) and total trade value of over $11.2 trillion (29.5 per cent of world trade).
The deal will ease trade between members by reducing or scrapping tariffs, strengthening supply chains with common rules, and forging new e-commerce rules.

“Trump’s tariff-raising trade war with China has given extra impertus in recent years to push ahead with the RCEP, which had otherwise progressed only sluggishly since negotiations began in 2012,” Reuters reported recently.
It said the partnership “will likely cement position more firmly as an economic partner with Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, and put it in a better position to shape the region’s trade rules”.
Previously, the Trade Negotiations Department said RCEP would help Thailand gain by opening up new markets for Thai products outside the Asean region.
Auramon Supthaweethum, director general of the department, said: "Another thing we will have is the origin of ‘Made in RCEP’ products. There will be more options to accumulate original goods from member countries to receive mutual tax benefits, including promoting a multilateral trading system of rules and helping the regional economy recover and grow stably."