Indonesia, the Philippines Have Not Ratified RCEP - World Bank

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- Indonesia and the Philippines are the countries that have not ratified the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), said World Bank managing director of development policy and partnerships Mari Elka Pangestu. She said Indonesia, however, is expected to edify the RCEP at a plenary in Parliament on Aug 30. “But Indonesia, apparently, on Aug 30 will hold a plenary in Parliament and it will be edified and hopefully the Philippines too, because now that it has a new government, I think it will be ratified. “Now it's about implementation and ensuring that what we had agreed upon is implemented and I still hope that India will join. “It is still on the table and we would make the RCEP, in terms of the regional value chain, really strong with services in there as well and not just the manufacturing side,” she said during the question and answer session at the 17th International Convention of the East Asian Economic Association (EAEA) here today. Pangestu delivered the association’s inaugural Shinichi Ichimura lecture, in honour of one of the EAEA founders. Meanwhile, the hybrid two-day conference from Aug 27 until Aug 28 addresses the key challenges of the pandemic and post-pandemic recovery in terms of global and regional uncertainties. Sunway Group founder and chairman Jeffrey Cheah said the conference will also highlight the dynamism and resilience of economies. He said people are living in a time of extreme uncertainty - even as Malaysia and the world currently transition into the endemic phase, COVID-19 still poses a health threat. “Globally, supply chains have been disrupted, inflation is soaring and the rise in the cost of living threatens to tip millions into poverty and misery. “Implementing the sustainability agenda is no longer just an option, but an urgent imperative,” he said in a statement today. Themed ‘Growth, Resilience and Sustainability: Asian Dynamism in an Uncertain World’, the conference featured over 150 speakers including Pangestu. The East Asian Economic Association’s 500-strong membership was represented with participants from over 19 countries (Laos, South Korea, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, India, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, New Zealand, Singapore, United States, Thailand, Sweden, France, Pakistan, Vietnam). The conference covers various topics namely the economic integration, multinationals and the global economy as well as economic growth and income disparity. “If I were to repeat just the first three words of the theme of our conference ‘Growth, Resilience, and Sustainability’, one would think that I am trying to explain the history of the rapid growth of the Sunway Group, its resilience to the Asian Financial Crisis, and its constant introduction of pioneering sustainability practices,” said Woo Wing Thye, vice-president for Asia of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). In 2021, Cheah and Professor Jeffrey Sachs, president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, established the Asian office of SDSN in Sunway University to complement the work of the SDSN New York and Paris offices. The offices serve to strengthen Asian dynamism in an uncertain world, which is the second part of the theme of the EAEA convention. -- BERNAMA