The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement came into force in January this year.

The deal was signed by the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its five regional partners: Australia, the People’s Republic of China, Japan, Republic of Korea, and New Zealand

As Southeast Asia's biggest free trade agreement to date, RCEP covers a market of 2.2 billion people with a combined size of $26.2 trillion or 30% of the world’s gross domestic product.

During the 2-day virtual conference, the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department (ERCD) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will share the main findings of its report, “The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP): A New Paradigm in Asian Regional Cooperation?,” and examine ways forward in implementing the trade deal.

The forum will bring in government officials from RCEP member countries, representatives from international organizations, research institutes, and business community to share and deliberate on issues of interest in the RCEP agreement toward identifying priority areas where further inter-governmental work and assistance is needed for a successful RCEP implementation. These will serve to orient further research, dissemination, and capacity building activities to support ADB developing members in undertaking the necessary domestic reforms, and in the negotiations and development of the RCEP built-in agenda.

Featured speakers

• Trudy Witbreuk, State Director, NSW State Office, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia
• Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary-General, ASEAN Secretariat
• Sim Sokheng, Secretary of State, Ministry of Commerce, Cambodia
• Fukunari Kimura, Chief Economist, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia
• Alfredo Perdiguero, Director, Regional Cooperation and Operations Division, Asian Development Bank
• Jamie Thompson, Principal Policy Analyst, New Zealand Customs
• Stefano Inama, Chief of Technical Assistance and Enhanced Integrated Framework, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
• Tham Siew Yean, Professor Emeritus, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
• Kit Hickey, Group Customs Manager, Fonterra Cooperative Group, Ltd.
• Meng Yew Wong, Partner, Deloitte Singapore
• Witada Anukoonwattaka, Economic Affairs Officer, Trade, Investment and Innovation Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
• Piti Srisangnam, Director, ASEAN Studies Center, Chulalongkorn University
• Manjiao Chi, Professor and Founding Director, Center for International Economic Law and Policy, School of Law, University of International Business and Economics
• Nongchith Khambounheuang, Director, Trade in Services Division, Department of Foreign Trade Policy, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Lao PDR
• Hideyasu Tamura, Senior Director, Economic Partnership and Regional Integration, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan