RCEP Members Greenlight Accession Talks For New Entrants

By Maizatul Jamny Muhammad Rosli, Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid, Siti Noor Afera Abu & Nur Athirah Mohd Shaharudin

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- Member countries of the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are open to expanding the pact, which covers about 30 per cent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP), trade, and population.

Speaking to reporters after the 4th RCEP Ministers’ Meeting, held in conjunction with the 57th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting (AEM) and related meetings today, Indonesian Deputy Minister of Trade Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri was the first to confirm that accession talks are underway.

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“It (the meeting) went very well… There’s a lot of support for the RCEP, and this came at a timely moment… Accession is in process,” she said, adding that there are currently four countries involved.

While she did not disclose a specific timeline for when the new members may officially join, she stated that details would be provided in due course.

Dyah Roro also emphasised that there was no resistance among current member states regarding the new accession.

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“No objection, no opposition. Everyone is in support,” she said, describing the ministerial-level meeting as ‘productive’.

Besides Dyah Roro, Malaysia's Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz, also said: "Nearly all countries are open to accepting new members to RCEP, but the final decision is still up to the leaders of RCEP."

Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Chile, and Bangladesh have expressed their interest in joining the RCEP.

In a joint statement released yesterday, ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) urged officials to expedite the accession process.

The ministers highlighted that expanding RCEP membership would further strengthen, enhance, and diversify economic linkages with external partners, in line with the Global ASEAN Strategy.

Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Muto Yoji and South Korea's Minister for Trade Yeo Han-Koo were the other two ministers who echoed Dyah Roro and Tengku Zafrul in supporting new members joining RCEP.

"We've heard various views, and many of them are very positive. So, we would like to coordinate well with other members, based on the rules. I think it's a good direction to see membership increase through that procedure,” said Yoji.

Meanwhile, Yeo described the RCEP discussions as "good" and affirmed South Korea's support for membership expansion.

RCEP consists of 10 ASEAN nations as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

-- BERNAMA