Thailand’s E-commerce Sector to Benefit from the Regional Trade Agreement
Online businesses in Thailand are seeing the benefits of the new regional trade bloc in the January 2022 edition of “ASEAN Today.” Raissa Chentami of The Indonesia Channel co-anchors the program from Jakarta with Nad Bunnag of Thai PBS World in Bangkok.
Following the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) among ASEAN’s 10 countries, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, trade barriers between these Asia Pacific have been lowered significantly. Considered the world’s largest free-trade bloc, the regional free trade agreement began last January 1 after 10 years in the making, will also help modernize business models and strengthen trade relationships.
The RCEP member countries combined account for 30 percent of the world’s GDP worth about $26 trillion and a third of the world’s population. Being part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Thailand will surely benefit from this regional agreement in its post-pandemic recovery, specifically the e-commerce sector.
Jason Qian, Southeast Asia CEO of Thailand of Best Inc. said that the regional agreement could also further develop logistics and transportation facilities.
Meanwhile, analysts believe that RCEP will help increase the resilience of critical regional supply chains, specifically in sectors such as electronics.
