What the RCEP will mean

The long-awaited Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was finally signed on Nov 15 during a virtual meeting between leaders of the 10 Asean member states and five dialogue partners — China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

The culmination of eight years of negotiations, the RCEP is the world’s largest free trade agreement and the first that includes Japan, South Korea and China.

The agreement will affect almost half of the world’s population, with the population of the 15 countries topping 3.6 billion people last year, with a combined GDP of more than US$28.5 trillion, 32.7% of the global economy.

The Thai Commerce Ministry will now propose the deal to the cabinet and request parliamentary ratification within next year. It is expected to come into force next year — nearly five years after the original schedule — once at least…