Jakarta: Closing the year 2021, the ASEAN Secretariat, in partnership with the East Asia Business Council, held the 5th round of the RCEP webinar series on December 16. 
 
The discussion focused on competition, government procurement, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and the economic and technical cooperation chapters of the Agreement. 
 
"In her opening remarks, Sulaimah Mahmood, Senior Director of the ASEAN and Southeast Asia and Oceania divisions in Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, underscored the importance for businesses, particularly SMEs, in the region to familiarise themselves with the RCEP, especially since SMEs account for the majority of businesses in the region," the ASEAN Secretariat stated in a press release on Monday.

As the RCEP Agreement will enter into force on 1 January 2022, RCEP Participating Countries (RPCs) are intensifying their preparatory work at the regional and domestic levels.
 
On the regional level, RPCs are currently finalising the necessary measures and institutional arrangements to ensure effective and efficient implementation of the Agreement. In the same vein, RPCs are also putting in place the necessary implementing laws and regulations at the domestic level. 

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