RCEP to help attract foreign companies coming into Asean

• Nov 17, 2020

PETALING JAYA: The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) said the recent signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will help attract foreign companies keen on entering into an integrated Asean market.

This is because the agreement would enhance transparency in trade and investment and would lower trade barriers, it said in a statement.

“The trade pact will also facilitate advanced technical cooperation through digitalisation and smart manufacturing, which will assist Malaysian small and medium enterprises in developing more innovative and competitive products to enable greater inclusion in global and regional supply chains, ” the FMM said.

The RCEP was signed on Nov 15 during the 37th Asean Summit.

The FMM congratulated the government for signing of the RCEP.

The RCEP comprises the 10 Asean countries, as well as South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand to form the world’s largest trading bloc covering 2.2 billion people and accounting for 29% of world GDP.

“FMM is a strong advocate of the RCEP as we have always maintained that it will contribute significantly to Malaysian companies to improve market access, participate in new value chains, increase economic activities and strengthen supply chain links across Asia-Pacific, ” it said.

The FMM said although Malaysia has implemented regional Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with China, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand through Asean, the RCEP would see the integration of the Asean+1 FTAs into a single and more cohesive trade and investment architecture in the region.

“Therefore, we greatly welcome the signing of the RCEP, which is very timely and fully supported by Malaysian businesses.”

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2020/11/17/rcep-to-help-attract-foreign-companies-coming-into-asean