THAI PM: RCEP, REGIONAL INTEGRATION KEY TO ASEAN PROSPERITY

By Linda Khoo

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 (Bernama) -- Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has underscored the shared priorities of deeper regional economic integration, strengthening supply chains and contributing to global economic development.

Paetongtarn, 38, said this in a written interview with Bernama, in which she responded to how ASEAN, under Malaysia’s chairmanship, can accelerate the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to drive regional growth.

Paetongtarn, who served as the 31st prime minister of Thailand since Aug 16, 2024, reaffirmed the country’s commitment to cooperating with Malaysia, as ASEAN Chair, along with other RCEP member countries, “towards full utilisation and effective implementation of the partnership.”

Beyond RCEP,  the prime minister said Thailand also supported Malaysia’s efforts on deepening economic integration through “upgrading other free trade agreements (FTAs) with external partners”, as well as through “the development of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement.”

“I believe (these efforts) will complement RCEP and contribute to Malaysia’s chairmanship endeavours to boost intra-ASEAN trade and investment,” said the youngest daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

According to Paetongtarn, “RCEP, as the world’s largest FTA, has proven to be a successful economic bloc, where members have seen increased trade and investment volumes, improved market access, trade facilitation, and regional supply chains, while exploring new areas of cooperation, including in e-commerce and MSMEs (micro, small, and medium Enterprises).”

The prime minister commended the recent inauguration of the RCEP Support Unit (RSU) within the ASEAN Secretariat, expressing hope that “it will become a key mechanism to accelerate the full implementation of RCEP in the future.”

RCEP involves 15 countries, comprising the 10 ASEAN member states - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - along with five of the bloc’s Dialogue Partners - Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. It encompasses about 30 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP) and a similar proportion of the world's population.

It has a mechanism for free trade among participating countries with a set of rules and procedures for accessing preferential tariffs across the countries. RCEP negotiations were formally launched at the 2012 ASEAN Summit in Cambodia, and the agreement was signed on Nov 15, 2020.

Since its full implementation, ASEAN’s trade with RCEP members reached US$1.9 trillion in 2023, an impressive 25 per cent increase from pre-pandemic levels.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) from RCEP partners also saw a robust inflow of US$66.3 billion, representing 28.9 per cent of the total FDI inflow to ASEAN in 2023.

-- BERNAMA