PH Deposits RCEP Ratification Instrument to the Secretary General of ASEAN
JAKARTA, INDONESIA, 28 April 2023 – Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Ambassador Hjayceelyn M. Quintana, completed the final step in the Philippines’ ratification process of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement by depositing the Instrument of Ratification (IoR) with the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, at the ASEAN Secretariat’s headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia today, 27 April 2023.
In handing over the IoR, Ambassador Quintana highlighted the Agreement’s timely entry into force for the Philippines given the ongoing economic reforms in the country and said that “Philippine participation in RCEP is important especially as it will make our industries more competitive, and it also complements existing government support programs with the measures committed in the FTA to open up trade.”
In congratulating the Philippines on the submission of the IoR, Secretary-General Kao said: "With the entry into force of the RCEP Agreement for the Philippines, we can expect the region to solidify its place in the regional supply chain, which bodes well not only for the region's post-pandemic economic recovery efforts but also for the region's global ASEAN strategy."
The RCEP Agreement was signed by the ASEAN Economic Ministers of the 15 RCEP participating countries on 15 November 2020 at the 4th RCEP Leaders’ Summit held via videoconference. The Philippines secured Senate concurrence in the ratification of the RCEP Agreement on 21 February 2023.
The RCEP Agreement is a comprehensive, high-quality, and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among the ASEAN Member States and ASEAN’s free trade agreement (FTA) partners, namely Australia, China, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand. It is a modern FTA as it updates the coverage of existing ASEAN FTAs and considers emerging trade issues such as electronic commerce, competition, intellectual property, and government procurement. The Agreement is also comprehensive in scope because it covers trade areas that were not previously covered in existing ASEAN FTAs such as small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), government procurement, e- commerce, and competition.
In 2020, the RCEP Agreement accounted for 30% of the world’s population, 29% of GDP, 29% of trade, and 33% of global inward investments.
The RCEP Agreement will enter into force for the Philippines on 2 June 2023. The Agreement may be accessed here: https://rcepsec.org/legal-text/. END