Marcos says Senate to tackle RCEP once the 2023 budget is passed

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The mega free trade deal Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is expected to be tackled by senators once the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget for next year is passed, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Tuesday.

Marcos said the RCEP, which seeks to link 16 Asia Pacific economies, was discussed during his meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo last Monday here.

"We covered even the RCEP, we talked about it, the ratification of RCEP by the Philippines, which is going to be very high up on the order of business of the Senate, after the budget is passed," the president told members of the Philippine media delegation to his three-day state visit here.

The RCEP is an agreement between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) namely Philippines, Malaysia Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and their trade partners China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand.

It covers trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property, competition, dispute settlement, e-commerce, small and medium enterprises and other topics.

The RCEP has to be ratified before it can take effect in the Philippines.

Last July, Marcos directed agriculture officials to come up with a memorandum detailing the advantages and disadvantages of RCEP so the government could decide on whether to push for its ratification.