Indonesia Emphasises Importance of Increasing RCEP Utilisation - BCA Securities
Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Trade, Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri, acting as the Alternate ASEAN Co-Chair, led the 5th Meeting of the Ministers of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member states, emphasising the importance of strengthening cooperation among participating nations.
Roro highlighted the need to increase the utilisation of RCEP so that the benefits of the agreement can be felt more widely by the business community, including micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“Indonesia encourages all RCEP member states to increase socialisation activities to build awareness and encourage the utilisation of the various benefits available within RCEP,” Roro stated in a briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday.
According to Roro, strengthening cooperation between RCEP member states is becoming increasingly important in responding to shared challenges and building regional economic resilience.
RCEP needs to be utilised optimally as a platform to deepen regional economic integration and cooperation, including through the strengthening of trade and investment relations and maintaining an open, free, fair, and rules-based trading system.
The ministers also underscored the importance of strengthening RCEP implementation, deepening trade and investment, and building economic resilience amidst the dynamics and changes of the global economic landscape.
Furthermore, the ministers noted progress in the RCEP accession agenda and approved the recommendation of the RCEP Joint Committee (RJC) to form an ad hoc Accession Working Group (AWG) for Bangladesh, Chile, Hong Kong, China, and Sri Lanka.
This step reaffirms that RCEP is an open and inclusive agreement, while ensuring that the accession process is conducted in accordance with the terms and procedures agreed upon within RCEP.
“The meeting also noted progress in the establishment of a permanent RCEP Secretariat in Indonesia and encouraged the RJC to continue discussions on the draft Terms of Reference (TOR) and other preparations,” said Roro.
RCEP is a trade agreement involving 10 ASEAN nations—Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam—as well as five partner countries: Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand. RCEP negotiations commenced in 2012, and the agreement was signed in 2020.