RCEP will likely create trade diversion amid geopolitical uncertainty, says MATRADE

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement would likely create a trade diversion with more countries shifting their sources to the Asia-Pacific region including Malaysia, amid stifle global economic growth and ongoing volatility due to the Russia-Ukraine geopolitical tensions.

由于俄罗斯与乌克兰地缘政治紧张局势，全球经济增长受到抑制，持续的波动，区域全面经济伙伴关系协定（RCEP）可能会造成贸易转移，更多国家将来源转移到包括马来西亚在内的亚太地区

Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) director of ASEAN and Oceania Raja Badrulnizam Raja Kamalzaman said RCEP would be more attractive for many countries such as those in the European Union to trade with more countries that are stable. 

马来西亚对外贸易发展公司（MATRADE）东盟和大洋洲主管Raja Badrulnizam Raja Kamalzaman表示，RCEP对欧盟等许多国家与更多稳定的国家进行贸易更具吸引力。

“We hope that trade will grow and we expect to receive more enquiries from countries that used to source from Ukraine and Russia, especially for commodities,” he told Bernama after the "China-ASEAN in RCEP Implementation: Are Businesses Ready for RCEP" seminar on March 18.

"我们希望贸易将会增长，我们预计会收到更多来自乌克兰和俄罗斯的国家的询问，特别是大宗商品，"他在3月18日的"中国-东盟实施RCEP：企业是否为RCEP做好准备"研讨会后告诉Bernama。

For Malaysia, he said it is important to position the country on the right path to leverage the benefits of RCEP, despite the prevailing global volatility.

对于马来西亚来说，他说，尽管全球普遍存在波动，但重要的是要使该国走上正确的道路，以利用RCEP的好处。

“Of course, the war will have some impact on trade but we are not overly exposed to Ukraine because our trade with that country is only about 0.2%, but the impact will be felt in terms of commodity prices because Ukraine is one of the largest suppliers of commodities

"当然，战争会对贸易产生一些影响，但我们并没有过度暴露于乌克兰，因为我们与该国的贸易只有0.2%左右，但从大宗商品价格的角度来看，这种影响将会受到影响，因为乌克兰是最大的大宗商品供应国之一。

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Raja Badrulnizam believed that Malaysia's trade figures would increase tremendously with the RCEP trade pact coming into force for Malaysia, which will benefit the local small and medium enterprises more.

Raja Badrulnizam认为，随着RCEP贸易协定对马来西亚生效，马来西亚的贸易数据将大大增加，这将使当地中小企业受益更多。

The RCEP agreement has come into force for Malaysia on 18 March , paving the way for the country to integrate into the world’s largest Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that involves 15 countries, with a total population of more than 2.2 billion.

RCEP协议已于在3月18日在马来西亚生效，为该国融入世界上最大的自由贸易协定（FTA）铺平了道路，该协定涉及15个国家，总人口超过22亿。

“Even before RCEP, the trade figures for 2021 with FTA countries showed an increase of 25.3%, with exports rising 24.1%, while imports grew about 26%,” he explained. 

"即使在RCEP之前，2021年与自由贸易协定国家的贸易数据显示增长了25.3%，出口增长了24.1%，而进口增长了约26%，"他解释说。

On programmes related to RCEP, he said MATRADE would undertake 53% of its trade promotion export programme in RCEP countries throughout this year. 

关于与 RCEP 相关的计划，他说，MATRADE 今年全年将在 RCEP 国家开展 53% 的贸易促进出口计划。

“We see the importance of undertaking programmes for RCEP, as the agreement will also provide cross-border investment, besides trade with the ASEAN and FTA partners,” he said.

"我们看到了为RCEP制定计划的重要性，因为除了与东盟和自由贸易协定伙伴的贸易外，该协议还将提供跨境投资，"他说。

Some 14 programmes will be for trade affairs, eight programmes for export-related, five on international sourcing programme to bring buyers from RCEP countries into Malaysia, and two programmes on trade investment mission led by the minister, he said. 

他说，大约14个计划将用于贸易事务，八个计划用于出口相关，五个计划用于将RCEP国家的买家带入马来西亚的国际采购计划，以及两个由部长领导的贸易投资代表团计划。

“With Malaysia’s coverage growing international now, RCEP agreement would be the catalyst for the country's trade and investment to grow bigger in post-pandemic recovery.”  

"随着马来西亚的覆盖范围现在越来越国际化，RCEP协议将成为该国贸易和投资在大流行后复苏中增长的催化剂。

He said among dimensions to pay attention to are some beneficiary sectors such as food and agribusiness, as well as electrical and electronics, trade liberalisation and facilitation, regional investment, and digital economy.

他说，需要关注的维度包括一些受益部门，如食品和农业综合企业，以及电气和电子产品，贸易自由化和便利化，区域投资和数字经济。

The RCEP was signed among 15 countries on Nov 15, 2020, after going through 31 rounds of negotiations over the past eight years.

RCEP于2020年11月15日在15个国家之间签署，经过过去八年的31轮谈判。

The countries are Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, China, South Korea, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.

这些国家是马来西亚，文莱，新加坡，越南，柬埔寨，印度尼西亚，老挝，缅甸，菲律宾，泰国，中国，韩国，澳大利亚，日本和新西兰。

Altogether, the countries account for nearly a third of the global population and world gross domestic product.

这些国家总共占全球人口和世界国内生产总值的近三分之一。