Indonesia signed trade and economic agreements with 15 countries. With this cooperation, it is hoped that trade and economic performance will improve. In this case, Indonesia was represented by Deputy Minister of Trade Jerry Sambuaga who chaired the meeting with New Zealand's Minister of Trade and Export Growth Phil Twyford. The two of them chaired a meeting of 15 Ministers of signatory countries to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This meeting is the first meeting of RCEP Ministers since the RCEP Agreement took effect on January 1, 2022. The meeting which was held in the middle of the 54th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (54th AEM) agreed to accelerate RCEP as well as the plan to establish an RCEP secretariat. "Indonesia has completed its ratification process on August 30, 2022. Furthermore, we will immediately notify the ASEAN Secretariat and in parallel will immediately complete the implementing regulations. We are targeting that the RCEP Agreement can be implemented by the end of this year. Currently we have also intensified various activities socialization to increase public awareness about RCEP," Jerry said in his statement, Sunday (2/10/2022). The RCEP itself was signed on November 15, 2020, making it the second largest trading bloc in the world after the WTO. Indonesia as one of the pioneer countries has signed and ratified and is actively conducting socialization to various parties, both at home and abroad.
At this meeting, the Director of ASEAN Negotiations, Dina Kurniasari as Alternate Chair of the RCEP/RCEP Joint Committee, reported to the Ministers on the progress achieved since the entry into force of this Mega FTA Agreement as well as various pending issues that require direction from the Ministers. One of the important advances was the agreement on the establishment of an RCEP secretariat. According to him, the secretariat is important to manage issues and common interests in the implementation and development of RCEP. The RCEP Secretariat will later become a special unit at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. The establishment of the RCEP Secretariat in Jakarta confirmed Indonesia as the pioneer of the mega FTA. "By consensus, almost all RCEP countries support the establishment of the RCEP Secretariat as a special unit within the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta as the most effective and efficient option at this time. Therefore, we hope that the Interim RCEP Secretariat can be formed as soon as possible to provide full support to ensure the implementation of RCEP runs smoothly. "The location of the RCEP Secretariat in Jakarta will strengthen Indonesia's strategic position as the initiator and also the Chair of the RCEP Negotiations," said Jerry.
