Thailand has completed ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, Jurin Laksanawisit, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and commerce minister said on Monday.
The official said that the country has ratified the trade pact upon depositing its instrument of ratification with the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Oct. 28.
Apart from Thailand, other ASEAN members including Singapore, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos had already ratified the RCEP agreement.
Meanwhile, China and Japan had also completed ratifications of the pact.
Signed in November last year, the RCEP was a mega trade deal between 10 ASEAN member states, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
It also added China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Ratifications from at least six ASEAN member countries and three of the other five member countries were needed for the trade deal to take effect.
Once in effect, the deal would eliminate tariffs on as much as 90 per cent of goods traded between its signatories over the next 20 years.
