{"id":14846,"date":"2021-04-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/17-04-2021\/singapore-ratifies-rcep\/"},"modified":"2021-04-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-17T00:00:00","slug":"singapore-ratifies-rcep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/17-04-2021\/singapore-ratifies-rcep","title":{"rendered":"Singapore Ratifies RCEP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In New<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Recently, <strong>Singapore <\/strong>has <strong>ratified <\/strong>the <strong>Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership<\/strong> (RCEP) agreement becoming the first participating country to do so.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At the <strong>6th edition<\/strong> of the<strong> Raisina Dialogue<\/strong>, Singapore\u2019s Foreign Minister has expressed hopes on<strong> India reassessing its stand <\/strong>on <strong>regional trade pacts <\/strong>like the <strong>RCEP<\/strong> and the <strong>Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership<\/strong> (CPTPP).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>About RCEP<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Background: <\/strong>In <strong>2012<\/strong>, the RCEP negotiations were launched by <strong>10 ASEAN Member States <\/strong>and <strong>6 ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners<\/strong> during the <strong>21st ASEAN Summit <\/strong>and Related Summits in <strong>Phnom Penh<\/strong>, <strong>Cambodia<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ASEAN Members:<\/strong> Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.<\/li>\n<li><strong>FTA Partners:<\/strong> Australia, People\u2019s Republic of China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and New Zealand.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Objective:<\/strong> To achieve a modern, comprehensive, high-quality, and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among the ASEAN Member States and ASEAN\u2019s FTA partners.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>negotiations <\/strong>commenced in<strong> early 2013<\/strong> and <strong>India withdrew<\/strong> from the agreement in <strong>November 2019<\/strong> as negotiations failed to address its outstanding issues and concerns.<\/li>\n<li>It was signed by the <strong>remaining 15 participating countries <\/strong>in <strong>November 2020<\/strong> and will enter into <strong>force after six ASEAN member states<\/strong> and <strong>three ASEAN FTA partners have ratified<\/strong> it.\n<ul>\n<li>The participating countries are targeting entry into force on <strong>1st January 2022<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>It comprises about <strong>30 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product <\/strong>(GDP) and close to a <strong>third of the world\u2019s population<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Coverage Areas<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Trade in goods and services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property, competition, dispute settlement, e-commerce, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and other issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Significance<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The RCEP is a <strong>major step forward<\/strong> for the world, at a time when <strong>multilateralism is losing <\/strong>ground and <strong>global growth is slowing<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It is committed to providing<strong> fair regional economic policies<\/strong> <strong>that mutually benefit both<\/strong> the ASEAN and its FTA partners.<\/li>\n<li>It has the <strong>potential to deliver significant opportunities <\/strong>for businesses in the East Asia region.<\/li>\n<li>It will provide a framework aimed at <strong>lowering trade barriers<\/strong> and<strong> securing improved market access<\/strong> for goods and services for businesses in the region.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Ratification by Singapore will <strong>complement its existing network of FTAs<\/strong> and <strong>boost trade and investment flows<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cfstatic.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/file_library\/mix_content\/631979983759546500_image.png\" style=\"height:334px; margin-left:100px; margin-right:100px; width:615px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Reasons for India\u2019s Withdrawal<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>India had been <strong>consistently raising fundamental issues<\/strong> and <strong>concerns <\/strong>throughout the negotiations and was prompted to take this stand as they <strong>had not been resolved by the deadline<\/strong> to commit to signing the deal.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Safeguard the Interests of Industries<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Its decision was to safeguard the interests of industries like agriculture and dairy and to give an advantage to the country\u2019s services sector.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Escalating Tensions with China<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>While China\u2019s participation in the deal had already been proving difficult for India due to various economic threats, the clash at Galwan Valley has soured relations between the two countries.<\/li>\n<li>The various measures taken by India to reduce its exposure to China would have not matched with its commitments under RCEP.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) Obligations<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>India wanted RCEP to exclude MFN obligations from the investment chapter, as it did not want to hand out, especially to countries with which it has border disputes.<\/li>\n<li>India felt that the agreement would force it to extend benefits to other countries for sensitive sectors like defence, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trade Deficits<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>India has trade deficits with 11 of the 15 RCEP countries and some experts feel that India has been unable to leverage its existing bilateral FTAs with RCEP members to increase exports.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Other Concerns <\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>India\u2019s decision would impact its bilateral trade ties with RCEP member nations, as they may be more inclined to focus on bolstering economic ties within the bloc.<\/li>\n<li>The move could potentially leave India with less scope to tap the large market that RCEP presents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Singapore on India Joining RCEP<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>US-China tensions<\/strong> are worrying for the region with the <strong>ongoing pandemic <\/strong>resulting in <strong>heightened tensions<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>These issues have <strong>implications for all of the regional players<\/strong> with a contest over <strong>emerging technologies<\/strong>, <strong>divergence on human rights<\/strong> and tensions related to <strong>defence<\/strong> and <strong>cybersecurity<\/strong> issues.<\/li>\n<li>In <strong>Southeast Asia<\/strong>, it is all the more <strong>crucial to maintain ASEAN centrality<\/strong> and <strong>unify<\/strong> amid <strong>geopolitical competition<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Singapore hopes that India can play a crucial role to help build a <strong>regional architecture<\/strong> that is \u2018<strong>open<\/strong>\u2019 and \u2018<strong>inclusive<\/strong>\u2019 and wants India to <strong>reassess regional trade pacts <\/strong>like the <strong>RCEP<\/strong> and the <strong>Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership<\/strong> (CPTPP).\n<ul>\n<li>These trade pacts will <strong>give Indian companies a platform to showcase their strengths <\/strong>across even larger markets.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:624px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"background-color:#fff2cc; width:6.5in\">\n<p><strong>Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It was <strong>signed by the 11 countries on 8th March 2018<\/strong> in Santiago, Chile and entered into<strong> force on 30th December 2018<\/strong>, after a majority of signatories ratified the agreement.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Signatories:<\/strong> Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Vietnam from ASEAN, along with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>It is a <strong>separate treaty that incorporates<\/strong>, by reference, the <strong>provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership<\/strong> (TPP) Agreement, with the exception of a limited set of suspended provisions.<\/li>\n<li>The pact binds its members, which represent abou<strong>t 13.5 per cent of global merchandise<\/strong> <strong>trade<\/strong>, to <strong>30 chapters<\/strong> providing for<strong> freer trade and investment access<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It is<strong> open for others to join<\/strong> if they are able to meet its standards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.financialexpress.com\/economy\/singapore-ratifies-mega-free-trade-agreement-rcep\/2230174\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source :FE <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In New Recently, Singapore has ratified the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement becoming the first participating country to do so. At the 6th edition of the Raisina Dialogue, Singapore\u2019s Foreign Minister has expressed hopes on India reassessing its stand on regional trade pacts like the RCEP and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[56,190,57,30,34],"class_list":["post-14846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-agreements-involving-india-or-affecting-indias-interests","tag-asean","tag-effect-of-policies-politics-of-developed-developing-countries-on-indias-interests","tag-gs-2","tag-india-foreign-relations"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/5149047current-affairs.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}