The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) for the Asia–Pacific region and world

Abstract

PurposeThe regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) is promising as per the claims and can be revolutionary for the Asia–Pacific Region. The member countries will get a boost in the post-pandemic world due to the RCEP. According to Brookings, the RCEP is going to be an agreement reshaping the global economics. This study aims to clarify the aspects related to the RCEP and how it can boost global economics.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs qualitative descriptive analysis to address the status of RCEP in the region and the consequences of such main transnational partnership. The study is based on economic reports, official documents and data directly related to the subject of the study.FindingsFindings show that the RCEP will be a significant driver of regional trade despite its faults. The RCEP's tariff benefits and rules of origin, notwithstanding their relatively restricted scope, will encourage enterprises to source products and services from RCEP members, and in combination, RCEP and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) are anticipated to replace at least some competing US commodities, services and farm exports. For items that integrate parts and components from inside the area, such as from China, the RCEP is projected to reduce tax and trade facilitation costs, allowing enterprises to avoid US Section 301 tariffs.Originality/valueBy examining how the RCEP operates within the framework of domestic and international trade, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of RCEP and analyses its nature based on data and official reports.

Has the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations impacted on tourism flows of member countries?

“…Focussing on the RCEP, Zreik (2022) assesses the consequences of the agreement on member countries. There is evidence that the agreement will be a significant driver of regional trade despite the relatively restricted scope of tariff benefits and rules of origin.…”

“…However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no empirical evidence on the impact of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement on tourism flows across the member countries. The existing work on the impact of the RCEP agreement has focussed mainly on the trade effects (Zreik, 2022) or has assessed the causal relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and growth in the region (Karahan and Çolak, 2022) but none has made an attempt to analyse tourism flows within the region and the impact of the RCEP agreement on the tourism industry.…”