Jakarta. Hong Kong, Chile, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh are now a step closer to enjoying the tariff eliminations under the world’s largest trade deal, RCEP, as annual commerce activities within the bloc reached the trillions-dollar mark.

The RCEP -- short for Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership -- brings together the ASEAN economies (except newcomer Timor-Leste), China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. The deal enables businesses to export to each other’s markets at lowered or zero tariffs.

This facility has caught the attention of ASEAN’s partners, including Hong Kong, whose two-way merchandise trade with the Southeast Asian grouping totaled $154.5 billion in 2025. 

The RCEP ministers discussed the expansion when they gathered in the Philippines on Monday. They also “welcomed” the progress made in the possible enlargement.

“[The meeting] approved the recommendation of the RCEP joint committee to establish an ad hoc accession working group to advance the accession process for Bangladesh, Chile, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka,” the joint media statement reads.

The group stated that Uruguay had expressed interest in membership. The bloc said it would give Uruguay’s bid “due consideration as appropriate”. 

Earlier that day, Deputy Trade Minister Dyah Roro Esti told the session that the bloc currently makes up around 30% of the global domestic product (GDP). Export-import activities within the RCEP totaled $5.6 trillion as of 2024. These statistics place “a lot of significance” on RCEP, according to Dyah Roro.

She cut her opening statement short without mentioning the expansion. The rest of the talks mainly took place behind closed doors.

India had previously taken part in the RCEP negotiations, but decided to pull out amid fears of Chinese imports flooding its markets.

While India has not signaled any change of heart, the RCEP agreement will keep its doors open for New Delhi.

The RCEP promises zero tariffs for virtually all goods traded among the signatories over the next decades.

Timor-Leste has only been in ASEAN for almost a year and was not originally part of the RCEP. ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, however, had previously signaled that Dili would eventually join the RCEP, without disclosing a clear timeline.

Add as a preferred source on Google +