Regulatory Commitments Vital To Support Region’s Recovery -- ASEC

JAKARTA, Dec 10 (Bernama) -- Investment, e-commerce and intellectual property rights chapters of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement deemed essential to support the overall post-pandemic economic recovery efforts. “Post-pandemic economic recovery requires more trade and investment, not less. This is where RCEP is expected to contribute,” ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) market integration director Le Quang Lan said. However, the success of RCEP hinges on its effective implementation at the national level, he said at the 4th round of the RCEP Webinar organised by ASEC and East Asia Business Council on Thursday. Under the RCEP Agreement, signatories are required to adopt regulatory reforms as part of their RCEP commitments. This is to further solidify a healthy environment for businesses in the region and help bounce back better and stronger from the pandemic. The RCEP Agreement, which was signed on Nov 15, 2020, will enter into force on Jan 1 next year. The 15 RCEP economies are home to almost a third of the world’s population and projected to add US$186 billion to the world economy. These economies include the 10 members of ASEAN plus five regional countries with which ASEAN has free trade agreements, namely Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. -- BERNAMA