“The establishment of the RCEP Secretariat is crucial for strengthening coordination, increasing transparency, and ensuring the relevance of RCEP cooperation,” said Susiwijono Moegiarso, the Secretary of the coordinating ministry, regarding the 5th RCEP Leaders' Summit, in an official statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.
RCEP has 15 member countries: 10 ASEAN member states and 5 ASEAN partner countries (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand).
In addition, four economies have submitted accession applications to become new members of the RCEP: Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Chile.
The 5th RCEP Leaders' Summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The discussion focused on two crucial agenda items to determine the strategic direction of RCEP implementation amid regional and global economic dynamics.
The meeting also discussed the Joint Leaders’ Statement on RCEP, which reflects a commitment to upholding WTO rules and the principles of open, transparent, fair, and rules-based international trade, to ensure certainty, predictability, and non-discrimination.
The RCEP leaders agreed to officially adopt the Leaders’ Statement, which affirms the joint commitment of member countries to strengthen the multilateral trading system by upholding WTO principles and rules.
“The leaders agreed to keep the RCEP market open, free, and rules-based by reducing trade barriers and strengthening trade and investment facilitation,” Moegiarso said.
“The leaders also emphasized the importance of the full implementation of the RCEP Agreement, along with domestic reforms to promote strong and resilient growth,” he added.
Furthermore, RCEP is said to be committed to ensuring continued full support for ASEAN centrality.
To realize these goals, the leaders agreed on concrete steps forward, including the full and effective implementation of the RCEP Agreement, promoting the accession process for strategic partners, and strengthening the institutional framework through the establishment of the RCEP Secretariat.
To ensure the agreement remains relevant and adaptive to global economic dynamics, efforts are also underway to prepare the General Review of RCEP, targeted to commence in 2027.
Indonesia is said to play a crucial role as Country Coordinator in RCEP, a trade agreement representing 28.6 percent of the world’s population and 28 percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Related news: RCEP to bring more vitality and certainty
Related news: RCEP set to help stabilize global trading system
Related news: Indonesia, Malaysia discuss RCEP, bilateral ties: minister
Translator: M Baqir Idrus Alatas, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: M Razi Rahman
Copyright © ANTARA 2025
