MTI Internship: RCEP Rising: What’s Next for Regional Trade?

ASEAN Division - RCEP Rising: What’s Next for Regional Trade?

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) brings together 15 economies in the Asia-Pacific region, and it is the world’s largest free trade area by gross domestic product. RCEP Parties, including Singapore, are keen to ensure that the RCEP remains a relevant and effective economic agreement for businesses in the region by ensuring that it is well-implemented and by expanding its membership to include new economies. The intern will support MTI’s efforts in implementing the RCEP Agreement and gain exposure to the policy development and coordination processes underpinning plurilateral trade negotiations. The internship will involve policy research, stakeholder analysis and synthesis of findings into practical insights that may be used at the regional fora. At the end of the internship, the intern will be expected to produce the following: a. A report analysing trends in Singapore companies’ utilisation of the RCEP, including key implementation challenges encountered by businesses. The report should identify recurring frictions and gaps, and propose practical policy recommendations to further strengthen the Agreement’s utility to businesses. b. A landscape analysis of emerging geo-economic trends and Singapore’s commercial interests in the RCEP Region, with recommendations on how to further enhance RCEP to respond to these evolving needs.

• Applicants should be in their penultimate year of undergraduate studies and have a strong interest in global trade, international relations, policy work and more importantly, ASEAN. • Applicants should be meticulous, and possess good research, critical thinking and writing skills. It will be a bonus if applicants are inquisitive and willing to undertake new technical disciplines/tasks on the job. • Prior internship experience in a related field is not necessary, but a plus.