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The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: new paradigm or old wine in a new bottle?

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  • Sanchita Basu Das

Abstract

type="main"> The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is currently negotiating with its six trading partners to form a new trade agreement called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The RCEP intends to harmonise rules and regulations across multiple overlapping free trade agreements in the region, and thereby attract new members. However, it faces several challenges. The mention of a flexibility principle and the ‘ASEAN Way’ of decision-making has led many to believe that the RCEP will be yet another low-quality regional trade agreement. However, the RCEP presents all ASEAN members with the opportunity to take a role in setting the agenda for a region-wide agreement. Hence, despite its challenges, ASEAN must make the effort to reach an attractive RCEP vis-à-vis other competing regional agreements. Accordingly, this paper describes what the RCEP is intended to be, how it emerged, and the issues that might affect the agreement's final quality, in order to evaluate if it will establish a new paradigm or a repackaged version of ASEAN's existing trade agreements.

Suggested Citation

  • Sanchita Basu Das, 2015. "The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: new paradigm or old wine in a new bottle?," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 29(2), pages 68-84, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:apacel:v:29:y:2015:i:2:p:68-84
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    Cited by:

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    2. Lijun Li, 2023. "Big data visualisation in regional comprehensive economic partnership: a systematic review," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Wei Chien Ng & Yu Qing Soong & Sin Yin Teh, 2026. "The Application of TRIZ in Resolving the Indo‐Pacific Economic Framework Paradox," World Affairs, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 189(1), January.
    4. Chunding Li & Xin Lin & John Whalley, 2020. "Comparing Alternative China and US Arrangements with CPTPP," NBER Working Papers 26877, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Camille Parguel & Jean-Christophe Graz, 2021. "Food Can’t Be Traded: Civil Society’s Discursive Power in the Context of Agricultural Liberalisation in India," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) Working Paper 405, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi, India.

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