Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

8th August 2022 marks an important occasion of the 55th anniversary of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), an intergovernmental organization of 10 member states in Southeast Asia (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam), founded in Bangkok in 1967.

New Zealand and Australia have ratified the multilateral trade agreement, considered the largest in the world, said today the Minister of State for Trade and Export Growing of Wellington Phil Twiford.

Southeast Asian countries must be united in the face of a trade war launched by US President Donald Trump, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said today at a high-level regional business forum, Reuters reported.

The meeting, not far from the Thai capital, is a co-event at the Southeast Asian Nations Association (ASEAN) summit, against the backdrop of tense US-China relations.

Australia and New Zealand said on Jan. 24 they hope to salvage the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by encouraging China and other Asian nations to join the trade pact after U.S. President Donald Trump kept his promise to pull out of the accord. 

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a trading bloc comprising 16 Asia-Pacific countries, has issued an ultimatum to India, saying that New Delhi should cut tariffs on most products as soon as possible or leave the talks on the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA).