KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today announced that Malaysia will convene a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) summit in October, coinciding with the 47th Asean Summit.
He said the summit would serve as a platform to review progress and push for deeper implementation.
“The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership remains the largest free-trade area in the world, covering 30 per cent of global GDP. But RCEP must not remain a legal text on paper. It must be renewed with political energy,” he said in his special address at the Kuala Lumpur Roundtable of the BOAO Forum for Asia at the Shangri-La Hotel here.
“As Asean chair, Malaysia intends to convene an RCEP Summit in October. The aim is to take stock, to accelerate implementation, and to demonstrate that Asia can still lead the cause of openness even as others turn inward,” he added.
The RCEP comprises 15 nations, including all 10 Asean members, as well as Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Anwar also noted that Asean and China had recently concluded negotiations for the Asean-China Free Trade Area 3.0, which will be presented to leaders in October.
He added that despite Asia’s growing middle class, expanding digital economies and resilient trade, the region continued to face fragmentation.
“If the Asian century is to be realised, it will require deliberate effort, not the least being cohesion as a region, coordination of policies, and investment in shared resilience,” he added.
