Given the uncertainty surrounding Covid-19 variants and political instability in the region, the RCEP may not come into full force until 2022. As the free trade agreement seeks to transform existing global value chains, gaps in provisions and the increasingly inward-looking policies adopted by members could curtail the benefits brought by greater integration.
Trade is indispensable to fostering greater levels of global economic development. As the OECD has written, “No country has lifted itself out of poverty without international trade.” This category consolidates GTIPA-member reports assessing the intersection of trade and economic development.