Indonesia Urges RCEP Members to Maximize Trade Pact Benefits, Boost MSME Exports

Indonesia is urging its 15 fellow member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to enhance the utilization of the trade agreement. The nation is particularly encouraging its domestic business community, including Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), to more fully leverage the trade opportunities made available by RCEP. Indonesian Deputy Minister of Trade, Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri, conveyed this stance while leading the 5th Meeting of the RCEP Member State Ministers as Deputy Chair of ASEAN. According to Antara, Ms. Roro emphasized the need for all member countries to intensify socialization activities related to the agreement''s benefits. This aims to build awareness and encourage the use of the various opportunities available within RCEP among business actors. "Indonesia encourages all RCEP participating countries to increase socialization activities to build awareness and encourage the use of various benefits available in RCEP," said Ms. Roro. According to her, cooperation among members needs to be strengthened to face global economic challenges while improving regional economic resilience. RCEP is also expected to deepen trade and investment relations and maintain an open, free, fair, and rules-based trading system. During the meeting, ministers discussed strengthening RCEP implementation, including efforts to expand trade and investment amid changes in global economic conditions. In addition to increasing the utilization of agreements, RCEP also opens opportunities for membership expansion. The ministers approved the recommendation of the RCEP Joint Committee to establish a special working group that will handle the process of joining Bangladesh, Chile, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka. The formation of the working group is part of the process of accepting new members. The four prospective permanent members must follow the provisions and procedures that have been agreed upon by the RCEP countries. The meeting also discussed the development of the establishment of the permanent RCEP Secretariat in Indonesia. The ministers encouraged the RCEP Joint Committee to continue discussing the work framework and other preparations. "The meeting also noted progress in the establishment of the permanent RCEP Secretariat in Indonesia and encouraged the RJC to continue discussing the draft Terms of Reference and other preparations," said Ms. Roro. RCEP is a trade agreement involving the 10 ASEAN member states and its five partner countries: Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand. Negotiations for the agreement began in 2012 and it was signed in 2020. Indonesia is now encouraging that the cooperation that has been formed is increasingly utilized by business actors, especially MSMEs. Source: VOI English