Abstract
ASEAN has emerged as a significant player in the Indo-Pacific region, as evidenced by its active engagement in major multilateral arrangements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the latest addition, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). IPEF has involved 7 out of 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) as the initial members, making it apparent that ASEAN’s significance and role cannot be overlooked in the economic and security architecture of the region. This paper aims to investigate the interplay of IPEF between RCEP and CPTPP while at the same time examining the current debates and criticisms toward it. We also analysed IPEF’s potential to foster a positive and prosperous economic environment that brings practical benefits to ASEAN. Despite IPEF being one of the interests among ASEAN policymakers, there has been insufficient discussion that systematically investigates the interplay of IPEF, RCEP, and CPTPP within ASEAN’s perspective, and the understanding of it seems to be limited. Thus, this paper is intended to contribute to the knowledge and nascent debate on the current geo-economic literature in the Indo-Pacific.
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Notes
- 1.
The White House (2022a).
- 2.
Comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia.
- 3.
The White House (2022a).
- 4.
Iwamoto (2022).
- 5.
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, including Australia, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand.
- 6.
Drysdale and Armstrong (2021).
- 7.
Ward (2022).
- 8.
ASEAN Secretariat (2020).
- 9.
ASEAN Secretariat (2020).
- 10.
Jha (2022).
- 11.
Johnston (2022).
- 12.
The White House (2022c).
- 13.
RCEP Article 2.13: Agricultural Export Subsidies.
- 14.
CPTPP Chapter 14.11 on Cross-Border Transfer of Information by Electronic Means.
- 15.
CPTPP Chapter 14.7 on Online Consumer Protection.
- 16.
Palit (2022).
- 17.
Jiang (2023).
- 18.
United Nations Convention against Corruption.
- 19.
Financial Action Task Force.
- 20.
RCEP 16.2 on Scope.
- 21.
IPEF on Anti-Corruption: “promote transparency and integrity in government procurement practices”.
- 22.
CPTPP 26.6 on Scope.
- 23.
CPTPP 26.7 on Measures to Combat Corruption.
- 24.
CPTPP 26.8, 26.9, and 26.10 on Promoting Integrity among Public Officials, Application and Enforcement of Anti-Corruption Laws, and Participation of Private Sector and Society.
- 25.
CPTPP 15.4 on General Principles and CPTPP 15.6 on Ensuring Integrity in Procurement Practices.
- 26.
CPTPP Article 2.16 on Publication.
- 27.
The White House (2022d).
- 28.
Nikkei Asia (2022).
- 29.
Al Jazeera (2022).
- 30.
Arasasingham (2022).
- 31.
EIU (2022).
- 32.
Iwamoto (2022).
- 33.
Sanchita Basu Das (2017).
- 34.
Trading Economics, China Exports to ASEAN, https://tradingeconomics.com/china/exports-to-asean.
- 35.
Iwamoto (2022).
- 36.
Goodman and Arasasingham (2022).
- 37.
Jiang (2023).
- 38.
PBNS (2022).
- 39.
Goodman and Arasasingham (2022).
- 40.
Goodman and Arasasingham (2022).
- 41.
Ram (2023).
- 42.
Cheng-Chwee (2018).
- 43.
ASEAN (2019).
- 44.
Bown and Weisel (2022).
- 45.
Raga (2022).
- 46.
ASEAN, ASEAN-China Economic Relations, https://asean.org/our-communities/economic-community/integration-with-global-economy/asean-china-economic-relation/.
- 47.
ASEAN & UNCTAD (2022).
- 48.
Raga (2022).
- 49.
Raga (2022).
- 50.
Jiang (2023).
- 51.
The White House (2022b).
- 52.
ADB (2021).
- 53.
Khanna et al. (2022).
- 54.
Fujiy et al. (2022).
- 55.
Kamaruddin (2021).
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Ramli, I.M., Waskitho, T., Kasih, M.C. (2023). The Interplay of IPEF Between RCEP and CPTPP: An ASEAN Viewpoint. In: Bungenberg, M., Chi, M., Jusoh, S., Ranjan, P., Rustambekov, I. (eds) Asian Yearbook of International Economic Law 2023. Asian Yearbook of International Economic Law, vol 2023. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/16517_2023_23
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