Delay in RCEP entry unfortunate, ADB says

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The country’s delayed participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement is “unfortunate,” but firms and workers should not be discouraged, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

“RCEP presents opportunities for countries to find new opportunities in global value chains that are going to be facilitated by the agreement. It’s unfortunate to delay the implementation of that agreement, and at the same time, the agreement just went into force on January 1st and so its impacts are going to be quite gradual,” Albert Park, ADB chief economist and director general for the economic research and regional cooperation department, said in a webinar organized by the ADB yesterday.

“They will unfold over time as companies understand and then react to the changing opportunities. I don’t think companies or workers in the Philippines should feel discouraged as long as there is agreement to get there eventually. As the years unfold, I’m sure those opportunities will also be made available, and that’s true in any other country not just the Philippines,” Park added.

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The RCEP agreement is a free trade pact which entered into force last January 1 for Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Japan, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with South Korea joining in last February 1.

Ratification of the Philippines’ participation in the RCEP was considered deferred as the Senate adjourned without resuming deliberations on the agreement Wednesday last week, its last session before the elections.

Cyn-Young Park, ADB director of regional cooperation and integration division, also said in the same webinar that RCEP includes chapters for digitalization, e-commerce and intellectual property rights, to provide very transparent and internationally consistent rules on the trade in services and then through e-commerce, as well as helping the investors feel more comfortable in going into these.

“Especially in the Philippines, this will help greatly the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector,” she said.

“BPO sector has been the core business for creating jobs and incomes for many people in the Philippines. I do share the optimistic sentiment that RCEP will provide great potential for promoting more active employment generating BPO sector in the Philippines,” she added.

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