On 28 October 2021, the Permanent Mission of Thailand to ASEAN deposited the Instrument of Ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement with the Secretary-General of ASEAN. We look forward to its entry into force in January 2022. The RCEP Agreement would greatly contribute to the post-COVID-19 recovery of ASEAN Member States and lead ASEAN towards resilient, inclusive and sustainable economic growth for the people in the region and beyond.

After Thailand and Viet Nam submitted the Instruments of Ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement on 28 and 29 October 2021 respectively, there are now 6 ASEAN-signatories as required. On 2 November 2021, the last day for submission of ratification if the RCEP Agreement is to take effect as planned, New Zealand and Australia notified the ASEAN Secretariat of their ratification to RCEP; therefore there are now 4 non-ASEAN signatories (from 3 required) ratified, enabling the RECEP Agreement to enter into force on 1 January 2022 as planned.

RCEP is the world’s largest free trade arrangement. RCEP Signatories have a combined GDP of about one third of the word’s GDP. When the Agreement takes effect, a vast number of Thailand’s exports will benefit from zero tariffs. The Agreement will also help boost ASEAN’s competitiveness and contribute significantly to an open, inclusive, and rules-based international trading system and the expansion of value chains.