The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership - RCEP

Background

RCEP is the free trade agreements involving 10 ASEAN countries namely Brunei Darussalam, The Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam with 6 other ASEAN partners that includes Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

However, in November 2019 during the ASEAN Summit, India announced its withdrawal from RCEP.

The RCEP was signed by 15 countries on 15 November 2020 and entered into force for Malaysia on 18 March 2022.

Information and documents related to the RCEP can be viewed on the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Malaysia’s official website:

https://fta.miti.gov.my/index.php/pages/view/rcep

Chapter 16: Government Procurement

The scope of the Government Procurement Chapter is only limited to elements of cooperation and transparency without making reference to any form of market access including in the context of general review and is not subjected to the Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM).

The text of Chapter 16 Government Procurement can be accessed here.