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Logo of the countries participating in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). (Photo: CGTN/VNA)
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January 1, 2025, marks the third anniversary of the entry into force and implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement.
Experts highly appreciate the role of this agreement in regional economic growth and prosperity and call on member countries and global partners to strengthen cooperation to build an open world economy.
RCEP includes 15 countries, including the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), along with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
Coming into force on January 1, 2022, RCEP has promoted regional cooperation and shared interests.
According to Associate Professor Chaipong Pongpanich of the Sasin School of Management, Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), ASEAN countries and China have complementary industries, and the implementation of RCEP brings great market opportunities for regional businesses.
For example, with tropical fruits such as durian and mango from Thailand accessing the Chinese market more conveniently, Thai farmers have continuously benefited. In contrast, Chinese electric vehicle companies actively expand the market in Thailand, bringing advanced technology, promoting local employment, and supporting Thailand in forming a more complete electric vehicle production chain.
According to this expert, the implementation of RCEP has made cooperation between ASEAN countries and China closer.
However, the implementation of this agreement is facing some barriers, especially protectionism. On this issue, many opinions hold that protectionism and tariff barriers will reduce economic efficiency, disrupt the global trading system, and bring risks to the economy as well as peace and stability in the world.
According to Mr. Andrew Robb, Australia’s former Minister of Trade, Investment, and Tourism, protectionism has never been effective, although some argue that protectionism will protect jobs, but in the end, it hinders growth.
Sharing the same view, Remy Davison, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Monash University (Australia), also said that some countries’ setting up tariff barriers seems to be able to bring back part of the industrial production capacity, but in fact, it will increase costs for businesses and consumers of that country, push up inflation, and ultimately may slow down the growth of the world economy.
According to Hidetoshi Tashiro, chief economist at Infinity LLC (Japan), Asia-Pacific economies should cooperate and demonstrate the success that free trade brings, thereby protecting the global trading order and building an open world economy.
Expert Tada Hiroshi, chief economist at General Partnership Japan, said that to protect the global trading order and build an open and inclusive world economy, Asia-Pacific economies should work together by promoting the prosperity of free trade in the region to show the world the success of open development.
Meanwhile, Mr. Lawrence Loh, Director of the Center for Governance and Sustainability (National University of Singapore), noted that tariff barriers negatively affect global value and supply chains.
In terms of development trends, a series of studies show that the policy benefits from RCEP in promoting trade and investment development, enhancing business benefits, and promoting economic growth still have a lot of potential.
A study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) shows that by 2030, RCEP is expected to increase the income of member economies by 0.6%, bringing about $245 billion in annual economic income to the region and creating 2.8 million jobs.
Most researchers also believe that in the context of global economic globalization and multilateralism facing challenges, uncertainty increases, and the signing and implementation of RCEP not only brings enormous economic benefits to member countries but also strengthens the international community’s confidence in multilateralism.
The steadfast support for openness and free trade will help advanced economies through the unimpeded flow of goods and services.
Quang Hung-Ha Ngoc
– 17:36 01/01/2025
