The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement was initiated in November 2012 and had as main objective to create an Asian trade zone between ASEAN countries, with negotiated partnerships between countries, allowing to set new rules based on effective multilateral trading systems supporting the ongoing economical growth of the ASEAN region.
The RCPE was signed by ASEAN countries and is now includes not less than 15 countries, including Australia, China, Japan, Korea and new Zealand, which represent about 30% of the global GDP and about 30% of the world population. India has left the negotiations in 2019 and is not part of this agreement.
In 2020, Western Countries have started to joint this economical zone such as United Kingdom, opening the opportunity to more effective trading rules between ASEAN and the Western countries.
