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The Department of Commerce and Industry (DTI) responded on Friday to criticism that the recently signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Association (RCEP) was not and will not be dictated by China.
In a virtual briefing on Friday, Allan Gepty, undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Policy and Trade Negotiations, assured that the world’s second-largest economy will have no advantage in influencing how the rules in the free trade agreement (FTA ). ).
“One thing is that we have to be clear that RCEP is not led by China. RCEP is a TLC led by Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Was [the] Asean [that] it started this biggest free trade agreement, ”Gepty said.
“On the question of whether or not China can dominate the RCEP, I think it is more apparent than real because of the notion that China is a great economy,” he added.
“But one thing is clear: in [the] In the RCEP region, we have a set of rules and we have certain commitments to promote an open, free and fair economic environment. “
The RCEP was signed on November 15 by the 10 ASEAN members: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as Australia, China, Japan, New Zeeland. and South Korea.
The RCEP built on the existing Asean + 1 FTAs with the aim of strengthening economic ties and enhancing trade and investment-related activities, and helping to minimize development gaps between the parties.
Topics covered in the agreement include trade in goods and services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property, competition, dispute resolution, electronic commerce, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Gepty said that the RCEP paved the way for the establishment of a “competition chapter” within member countries in Asia-Pacific, ensuring that “our investors [and] service providers in the RCEP region will be treated equally. “
“In other words, we do business and trade on the basis of rules, not because one is powerful or dominant politically or economically … because this is a rules-based trade agreement,” he added.
According to the DTI official, Philippine companies would be greatly affected by the RCEP update. He said the impact would be “positive” in the sense that “at least ‘local producers of yung mga natin, madali [na] nilang ma-access’ yung mga raw materials (it would be easier for our local producers to access the raw materials) ”.
“I mean, for our companies, their market, no [na] limited sa Philippines. They can access these 15 countries (sic) [and] can sell [products] in [those] countries in a very convenient way (For our companies, their market would no longer be limited to the Philippines. They can access the 15 member countries and sell products in those countries in a very convenient way) ”, he added.
Gepty also said the RCEP needed to be aggressively promoted, so that more stakeholders would take advantage of it.
“So we really have to [promote it] Not only [to] inform our stakeholders, [but also] inform them about the benefits of this agreement ”, he added.
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