RCEP: A Trade Pact amidst a Fracturing Factory Asia Opinion For the working people of ASEAN, East Asia and the Asia-Pacific, the RCEP’s arrival is puzzling. It has not received a warm welcome from the people at the grassroots. This is so because past and existing FTAs have not delivered the promised gains from a free-trade arrangement: full employment, social protection and well-being for the working people. By Rene E. Ofreneo
