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Strengthening Asean’s economic resilience through RCEP’s 2027 review

Practical reforms will make South-east Asia’s biggest trade pact more effective and beneficial

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    • Leaders at the fifth Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Summit in Kuala Lumpur last October. The 10 Asean states, along with Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, are signatories to the trade pact.
    • Leaders at the fifth Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Summit in Kuala Lumpur last October. The 10 Asean states, along with Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, are signatories to the trade pact. PHOTO: BT FILE

    Banh Thi Hang

    Published Tue, Apr 21, 2026 · 07:00 AM

    WHEN conflict in the Middle East disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Asia feels it fast.

    In 2024, 84 per cent of the crude oil and condensate and 83 per cent of the liquefied natural gas that moved through the strait went to Asian markets. Disruption there quickly feeds into higher energy costs, rising freight rates and renewed inflation across the region.

    Asia has no military answer to shocks like these. Its best protection is institutional, and its strongest instrument is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the 15-member trade pact that accounts for about 30 per cent of global gross domestic product.

    New Global OrderAseanRCEPSouth-east AsiaeconomyTradefree trade agreementsgeoeconomics

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