RCEP tipped to welcome more members in the next few years

An aerial view of the container dock of the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Qinzhou, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. - Xinhua

HONG KONG: Signs are already emerging that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, could expand beyond the one-third of the world it already covers.

Allan Gepty, assistant secretary for international trade policy and trade negotiation at the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry, who was the country’s lead RCEP negotiator, said eliminating tariffs means “people can have cheaper access to raw materials and intermediate goods necessary for production and manufacturing activities”.