KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is poised to be the 12th signatory to implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement by March.
This was after Malaysia's Instrument of Ratification (IOR) had been submitted to the Asean Secretariat on January 17 this year, according to the International Trade and Industry Ministry.
The ministry said prior to this, the Cabinet had given the mandate on Jan 12 to issue the IOR.
"As provided under Article 20.6 of the RCEP agreement which stipulates that the agreement will enter into force after 60 days of the IOR submission, the RCEP agreement will enter into force for Malaysia on March 18 2022," the ministry said.
Malaysia will join 11 other signatory countries namely Singapore, China, Japan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea that have completed the ratification process.
RCEP is the largest Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the world, covering 15 countries with 2.2 billion or nearly a third (29.5 per cent) of the world's population.
This represents US$25.8 trillion or 29.4 per cent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP) based on the World Bank's 2019 data.
"It bears stressing that RCEP is a testament to efforts to strengthen not only the multilateral trading system but advancing regional economic integration and upholding the development agenda of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)," the ministry said.
Within Asean, Malaysia is expected to be the largest beneficiary of the RCEP agreement in terms of gains in exports, with a projected US$200 million increase, it added.
"According to a report by UNCTAD on Dec 15 2021, these gains will result from tariff elimination and reduction for merchandise goods, including the facilitation of export and import of goods among the RCEP countries.
"Furthermore, service providers including e-commerce will be able to enjoy greater market access in terms of cross border supply and establishing commercial presence in the RCEP markets," the ministry said.