Asean

  1. Home
  3. Asean

ASEAN and ASEAN Economic Community

Myanmar, being a member state in "the Association of Southeast Asian Nations- ASEAN", the regional organization comprises the countries those terroirial proximity to Myanmar, cooperate and coordinate in -

      (i) ASEAN economic community establishment actions and
      (ii) dialogue partners cooperation (individually as well as group of dialogue partners) as a focal ministry and secretariat of Myanmar Economic Minister.

ASEAN Economic Community Establishment Actions

Dialogue Partners Cooperation (Individually as Well as Group of Dialogue Partners)

The following agreements were signed under the ASEAN-Korea Fee Trade Area-

  • Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation among the Governments of the Member Countries of the ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (2005, December)
  • Agreement on Dispute Settlement Mechanism under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation among the Governments of the Member Countries of the ASEAN and the Republic of Korea(2005, December)
  • Agreement on Trade in Goods under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation among the Governments of the Member Countries of the ASEAN and the Republic of Korea(2006, August)
  • Agreement on Trade in Services under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation among the Governments of the Member Countries of the ASEAN and the Republic of Korea(2007, November)
  • Agreement on Investment under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation among the Governments of the Member Countries of the ASEAN and the Republic of Korea(2009, June
  • (Protocol to Amend the Agreement on Trade in Goods under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation among the Governments of the Member Countries of the ASEAN and the Republic of Korea(2010, November)
  • Third Protocol to Amend the Agreement on Trade in Goods under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation among the Governments of the Member Countries of the ASEAN and the Republic of Korea(2015, October)
  • Second Protocol to Amend the Agreement on Trade in Goods under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation among the Governments of the Member Countries of the ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (2011, November)

The following agreements were signed under the ASEAN-India Fee Trade Area-

  • Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between theRepublic of India and Association of Southeast Asian Nations(2003, October)
  • Agreement on Trade in Goods under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Republic of India(2009, August)
  • Agreement on Dispute Settlement Mechanism under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Republic of India(2009, August)
  • Agreement on Trade in Services under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Republic of India(2014, August)
  • Agreement on Investment under the Framework Agreementon Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Republic of India (2014, August)

The following agreements were signed under the ASEAN-Korea Fee Trade Area-

  • The Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (2009, February)
  • The First Protocol to Amend the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area ( 2014, August)

The following agreement weresigned under the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Area-

  • ASEAN-Hong Kong (China) Free Trade Agreement (2018, March)
  • Agreement on Investment among the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (2018, March)

Objective

  • The objective of the RCEP negotiation is to achieve a modern, comprehensive, high-quality and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among the ASEAN Member States and ASEAN’s FTA Partners and to enhance the regional economic integration.

Background

  • RCEP Agreement was signed by RCEP Ministers from 15 Member States at the Virtual Signing Ceremony at the sidelines of the 4th RCEP Summit witness by the Leaders.
  • RCEP Participating Countries (RPCs) are 10 ASEAN Member Countries and its plus one Free Trade Areas (FTAs) countries namely Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.
  • Although ASEAN has Free Trade Agreement between Australia-New Zealand, China, India, Japan and Korea respectively, RCEP is expected to be an agreement which is more modernized, comprehensive, high-quality and mutually beneficial than the other Plus one FTAs.
  • RCEP has 15 Participating Countries that cover a market of 2.2 billion people, 30% of the world’s population, 30% of the global GDP and nearly 28% of the global trade based on 2019 figures.
  • Since the 21st ASEAN Summit held on 20 November 2012 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the Leaders adopted the "Guiding Principles and Objectives for Negotiating the RCEP" to make the instruction on the further negotiation process of the RCEP.
  • The 1st RCEP Summit was held in 2017 in Philippines, the 2nd RCEP Summit was held in November 2018 in Singapore, the 3rd RCEP Summit was held in November 2019 in Thailand and the 4th RCEP Summit was held via video conference in 2020. RCEP was successfully negotiated with four rounds of RCEP Summit, eight rounds of RCEP Ministerial Meeting, eleven rounds of RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting and thirty first rounds of RCEP Trade Negotiation Committee and related meetings.
  • RCEP was negotiated on a basis that all RPCs cultivate on a consensus in accordance with the Guiding Principles and Objectives for Negotiating the RCEP. In the RCEP negotiations, the negotiations are taken in the appropriate forms of flexibility including provision for Special and Differential Treatments, plus Additional Flexibility consistent with the existing ASEAN+1 FTAs, as applicable taking into consideration the different levels of development of the participating countries as per RCEP Guiding Principles and Objectives for Negotiating the RCEP. Myanmar, Cambodia and Loas have the flexibility and transition period for some cases that cannot go along with other RPCs.

Key Features of the RCEP Agreement

  • Modern. The RCEP Agreement is an agreement not made just for today but is also an agreement for tomorrow. It updates the coverage of the existing ASEAN Plus One FTAs (ASEAN’s FTAs with the five dialogue partners) and takes into consideration changing and emerging trade realities, including the age of electronic commerce, the potential of micro, small and medium enterprises, the deepening regional value chain, and the complexity of market competition. The RCEP Agreement will complement the World Trade Organization (WTO), building on the WTO Agreement in areas where the Parties have agreed to update or go beyond its provisions.
  • Comprehensive. The RCEP Agreement is comprehensive, in terms of both coverage and depth of commitments. On its coverage, the RCEP Agreement comprises of 20 Chapters and includes many areas that were not previously covered in the ASEAN Plus One FTAs. The RCEP Agreement has specific provisions covering trade in goods, including rules of origin; customs procedures and trade facilitation; sanitary and phytosanitary measures; standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures; and trade remedies. It also covers trade in services including specific provisions on financial services; telecommunication services; and professional services, as well as the temporary movement of natural persons. In addition, there are chapters on investment; intellectual property; electronic commerce; competition; small and medium enterprises (SMEs); economic and technical cooperation; government procurement; and legal and institutional areas including dispute settlement. In terms of market access, the RCEP Agreement achieves liberalisation in trade in goods and services and has extended coverage to investment.
  • High-Quality. The RCEP Agreement contains provisions that go beyond the existing ASEAN Plus One FTAs, while recognising the individual and diverse levels of development and economic needs of the RCEP Parties. The RCEP Agreement addresses the issues required to support the Parties’ engagement in global and regional supply chain and complements market access commitments with trade and investment enabling rules that are business- facilitating while at the same time preserving legitimate public policy objectives. The RCEP Agreement strives to boost competition in a way that drives productivity, which is sustainable, responsible, and constructive. In addition, the RCEP Agreement has the added value of bringing together a single rulebook to help facilitate the development and expansion of regional supply chains among Parties.
  • Mutually beneficial. The RCEP Agreement brings together countries with diverse levels of development. Thus, the RCEP Parties have recognised that its success will be determined by its ability to mutually bring benefits. The RCEP Agreement is designed to achieve this objective in a number of ways, including through appropriate forms of flexibility and provisions for special and differential treatment especially for Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam, as appropriate, and additional flexibility for the least developed Parties. In addition, the RCEP Agreement includes technical cooperation and capacity building that will be made available to support the implementation of commitments made under the RCEP Agreement and for the Parties to maximise the benefits accruing therefrom. The RCEP Agreement also includes provisions that will ensure that economies with different levels of development, businesses of differing sizes, and the broader stakeholders can all benefit from the Agreement.

Chapters of RCEP Agreement

  • The RCEP Agreement comprises of following 20 Chapters:

    (1) Initial Provisions and General Definitions

    (2) Trade in Goods

    (3) Rules of Origin (ROO)

    (4) Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation (CPTF)

    (5) Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)

    (6) Standards, Technical Regulations, and Conformity Assessment Procedures (STRACAP)

    (7) Trade Remedies

    (8) Trade in Services (Financial/Telecommunication/Professional)

    (9) Temporary Movement of Natural Persons (MNP)

    (10) Investment

    (11) Intellectual Property

    (12) Electronic Commerce

    (13) Competition

    (14) Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

    (15) Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH)

    (16) Government Procurement

    (17) General Provisions and Exceptions

    (18) Institutional Provisions

    (19) Dispute Settlement

    (20) Final Provisions

  • Regarding the RCEP, nine working groups and seven sub-working groups negotiated back to back with the trade negotiating committee (TNC) and the focal persons from concerned ministries of Myanmar participated in the negotiations of related working groups and sub working groups meetings respectively.
  • Entry into force of the RCEP Agreement will take place when at least six ASEAN Member States and three non-ASEAN signatories deposit their instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval with the Agreement’s Depositary. Towards this end, the Leaders tasked the officials to expedite respective domestic ratification procedures for the early entry into force of the Agreement.

India’s participation in RCEP

  • The Joint Leaders’ Statement of the 4th RCEP Summit stated that RCEP will remain open for India in view of its participation in RCEP negotiations since 2012 and its strategic importance as a regional partner in creating deeper and expanded regional value chains.

Myanmar Current Situation

  • Myanmar deposited the Instrument of Ratification (IOR) for RCEP Agreement dated 4 May, 2021 to the ASEAN Secretariat on 12 May, 2021 through Myanmar Permanent Mission to ASEAN.
  • Foreign Economic Relations Department organized the series of public-private dialogue from December 2020 to March 2021 in Collaboration with lines Ministries to facilitate the private sector for the implementation of RCEP Agreement. RCEP implementing committee and working committees are being organized by collaboration with public and private sector for the successful implementation of the RCEP Agreement.