ASIA: Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Set for January 2022 Launch

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement is set to enter force on 1 January next year. The announcement follows the ratification of the treaty – said the be the world’s largest free trade deal – by Australia and New Zealand earlier this month. In line with the stipulations of the agreement, this delivers a sufficient number of ratifications – six from ASEAN members states (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and four from non-ASEAN nations (China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand) for the deal to go live.