DTI targets RCEP ratification this year
The Department of Trade and Industry is targeting to finish the ratification process of its recently-joined Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement this year. This is to place the trade pact a step closer to being entered into force as the economy tries to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Allan Gepty, assistant secretary of the Trade and Industry and the country’s lead negotiator during the RCEP talks, said that the biggest trade deal needed to be ratified by at least six Asean member states and at least three Asean external partners before it enters into force.
The RCEP was signed by 15 member countries: the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, as well as South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
