Thailand to begin implementing RCEP deals after last country signs up
All 15 members including Thailand will begin implementing agreements under RCEP – the world’s largest trade deal – after the Philippines became the last member to ratify them at a meeting last week.
Thai trade negotiators were at the 3rd joint RCEP committee meeting in Bandung, Indonesia from February 20-22 to witness Manila’s ratification of the deal.
First proposed by Asean in 2011, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will gradually eliminate up to 90% of trade tariffs for members over the next 20 years. Its members account for about 30% of the world’s population and 50% of global manufacturing output.
Last week’s meeting also discussed the launch of an Asean taskforce in Jakarta to oversee implementation of RCEP, and arrangements for joint economic cooperative projects among member countries to exploit RCEP agreements.
These projects cover sectors including product trading, services, investment, intellectual property, e-commerce, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), said Chotima Iemsawadikul, director-general of the Thai Department of Trade Negotiations under the Commerce Ministry.
RCEP members China, Australia and Japan proposed a fund of US$33 million to support these cooperative projects, while South Korea offered a plan to exchange information on usage of benefits under RCEP agreements, she added.
Effective since January 1 last year, RCEP comprises the 10 members of Asean – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – plus the five countries with which Asean has free trade agreements – Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Thai exports to RCEP members in 2022 were worth 4.8 trillion baht, with major markets in Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore and South Korea. Meanwhile, imports from RCEP members rose to 5.7 trillion baht, mostly from Brunei, Australia and Myanmar.
Thai export products that enjoyed the biggest benefit from RCEP were lubricant oil, canned tuna, tapioca chips, fresh durian, rice bran oil, and processed mackerel. Thailand’s biggest customer for these products was South Korea, followed by China and Japan.
Civil society activists in Thailand and other RCEP member countries have voiced fears that RCEP will open markets to exploitation and damage the livelihoods of farmers and other producers.
