'Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership' Enters into Force... Gyeonggi-do Holds Online Briefing on 'RCEP Utilization'

Real-time Non-face-to-face Operation for SMEs Also on 2.17 and 3.13

RCEP Global Times photo capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Gyeonggi Province will hold two online briefings in February and March to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the province understand how to utilize the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) following its enforcement in South Korea.

RCEP, the world's largest trade agreement accounting for about 30% of the global population, trade volume, and nominal GDP, is a free trade agreement involving 15 countries including the 10 ASEAN nations, South Korea, China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

According to the province on the 15th, an online briefing on strategies for entering the Japanese market will be held on the 17th to analyze the practical benefits of exporting to Japan and provide guidance on the RCEP agreement contents such as preferential tariffs and rules of origin for export goods, as well as utilization procedures.

On March 3rd, together with the Gyeonggi FTA Center, Gyeonggi Regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration, and Korea International Trade Association Gyeonggi Regional Headquarters, an online briefing titled "Post-COVID-19 RCEP Utilization Overseas Market Entry Strategy" will be held.

The briefing will provide practical training focused on enhancing the understanding of RCEP among company practitioners and enabling immediate application, covering topics such as certification of origin and application of preferential tariffs, analysis of beneficiary items, and RCEP-based business models.

Along with understanding the rapidly changing international situation due to the global spread of COVID-19, strategies for SMEs to respond to sharp fluctuations in international currencies such as the dollar and yen exchange rates will also be introduced.

The province expects that since RCEP marks the first free trade agreement with Japan, with which South Korea had not previously signed an FTA, it will be greatly helpful for companies currently exporting to Japan or aiming to enter the Japanese market.

Earlier, on the 1st, the world's largest free trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), came into effect in South Korea.

This follows the regulation that the agreement takes effect 60 days after the government's deposit of the instrument of ratification (December 3rd last year). The RCEP agreement consists of 20 chapters covering goods, services, investment, intellectual property rights, and more.

Ryu Gwang-yeol, Director of the Gyeonggi Province Economic Office, said, "We hope that companies in the province will effectively utilize this RCEP briefing to create opportunities to expand export markets," adding, "We plan to provide systematic consulting support this year for export companies struggling to utilize FTAs."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.