The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP is a free trade agreement between the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Since trade and commerce go hand in hand in order to maintain the economy of the world, agreements between the countries are also responsible for shaping the global economy.
In November 2020, the RCEP was signed which resulted in the biggest ever trade bloc in the economic history of the world. The infographic below tells all that you need to know about the RCEP.
To begin with, the countries involved in this agreement include 15 nations from the Asia-Pacific region. This free trade agreement took 8 years and 28 discussion rounds. The members of this agreement will have the advantage of reduced or no tariff at all on all the goods or services imported within the region for the next 20 years.
In 2019, in the middle of negotiation India surprisingly pulled out of the agreement. The decision was made after the concerns regarding the impacts of trade bloc on industrial and agriculture sectors that not only impact the lives of all Indians but their livelihood as well.
According to the estimates by Brookings, the potential gains by the RCEP free trade agreement are predicted to be high in billions. Because of this agreement, around $209 billion are expected to be added to the annual global income whereas, $500 might be added to the global trade by the year 2030.
Infographic by: Visualcapitalist.com
