Evaluating Asia’s mega-regional RTA: The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

"Asia is following a global trend towards mega-regional regional trade agreements with the recent launch of negotiations for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Led by ASEAN, the negotiations will include all ASEAN members and its six FTA partners: i.e. Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand. Successfully concluding this trade deal would create the world’s largest free-trade bloc with profound economic implications for members and for the world economy.

Purpose of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

The Partnership was launched at the East Asia Summit in November 2012 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Basu Das 2012). While strengthening ASEAN centrality, its core purpose is to reconcile two long-standing proposals: (1) the East Asia Free Trade Agreement, which focussed on ASEAN members, China, Japan and South Korea; and (2) the Comprehensive Economic Partnership which added three economies – Australia, New Zealand and India. The new Partnership bridges the two proposals by adopting an open accession scheme. The negotiations began in early 2013 and aim to be completed by the end of 2015..."

at http://www.voxeu.org/article/mega-regionalism-asia