Ban Ban Suljono, chairman of the think tank’s Asia Innovation Research Center, recently said that since the entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), the agreement has played an important role in promoting the development of the ASEAN region’s digital economy and green economy, contributing to the two major areas.

Bannon pointed out that in the field of the digital economy, RCEP brings an effective solution for cybersecurity and consumer privacy protection for e-commerce, he stressed that RCEP also creates a better digital trading environment for ASEAN SMEs, enhances their digital capabilities and provides a strong impetus for further growth in areas such as e-commerce and digital payments.

Rizard Edwin, an expert on digital transformation, creativity and human resources at the Indonesian Ministry of Economic Integration, said at a meeting in Jakarta that ASEAN’s digital economy will reach $194 billion by 2022, of which Indonesia will account for about 40 percent. Ban Ban emphasized that ASEAN’s digital economy development prospects are very broad with the support of RCEP rules and policies.

Speaking of RCEP’s opportunities for ASEAN’s green economic development, Ban said that ASEAN has a resource advantage in renewable and new energy sources, that RCEP helps promote advanced green technologies and industrialization advantages in the region to land in ASEAN, and accelerates the construction of green infrastructure such as ASEAN’s energy transition and clean transportation. he also mentioned that RCEP has promoted the “new three” trade in electric vehicles, solar cells, lithium cells, and further deepened China’s cooperation with ASEAN in the new energy industry.

Ban emphasized that RCEP not only effectively increased the level of trade within the region, but also significantly promoted the development of investment within the region.On the one hand, the implementation of RCEP provided policy support for enterprise investment in ASEAN markets; on the other hand, RCEP’s tariff deductions and the rules of accumulation of origin helped optimize the industrial layout within the region.The policy benefits brought by RCEP will accelerate investment by RCEP member companies in Southeast Asia and help ASEAN countries revitalize their economies in economic cooperation.