Difference Between CECA and CEPA

CECA vs CEPA

CECA stands for Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement while CEPA is an acronym for Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

Both CECA and CEPA are forms of economic agreements between India and other countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand (for CECA) and Japan, Sri Lanka, and South Korea (for CEPA).

From the actual name itself, the most obvious difference is the use of the word “cooperation” in the former and “partnership” on the latter. “Cooperation” denotes a loose connection between two countries while the word “partnership” denotes a more personal and more intense relationship between the parties.

Since both are economic agreements, the two agreements are subject to the benefit of both countries, especially on the economic and trading side. CECA and CEPA are usually conducted by economic negotiations between two countries. Once the negotiators reach an amiable agreement over terms and conditions, the agreement is signed by each country’s representative (in this case, the Minister of Commerce) and passed to each country’s parliament or government for approval. After the approval, the agreement becomes effective by the enforcement of both parties and governments in their own territories.

Terms and conditions vary from country to country in every agreement. Negotiations can touch on any particular economic aspect or concern of a particular country or both parties. The agreement can cover tariffs of exported goods, protection for overseas workers that are part of a country’s service industry, or foreign direct investments between two countries.

CECA is mainly concerned with tariff reductions and the elimination of all items that are considered to be listed tariff rate quota items. On the other hand, CEPA has the same components of CECA with an additional focus and options in the terms of trade investments and services. In looking at the big picture, CEPA is much broader and more complicated compared to CECA.

In a comparable economic standing, CECA is considered as the first step or a stepping stone to accomplish CEPA. If negotiations can still be conducted between countries, and both parties are open to discussion and have a good economic relationship with each other, CECA can evolve into CEPA. This makes CEPA a result of on-going efforts and negotiations of two countries that started from CECA.

Despite the differences between the two types of agreements, both CECA and CEPA encourage economic trade and investment efforts from both countries for the benefit of both parties. These two pacts also help in paving the way for more economic solutions and improvements in terms of export items, investments, and service quality. Joint expansion of economic interests and opportunities for both countries can also be feasible if it is a part of the terms and conditions with any of the two agreements.

Overall, it improves economic relationships between the two governments and their people.

Summary:

1.CECA is the acronym for Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement while CEPA is the representation for Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
2.These two forms of economic agreements are India’s way of forging economic ties with other Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand (for CECA) and Japan, Sri Lanka, and South Korea.
3.CECA is a stepping stone for CEPA. CEPA also has a broad scope in terms of its aspects and items.
4.CECA deals mostly with the elimination or reduction of tariffs while CEPA’s concerns are the same with the addition of investments and services.
5.A subtle difference is the use of the word “cooperation” in CECA and “partnership” in CEPA. The word choice denotes the degree of relationship between two parties. “Cooperation” implies a cohesive but distant effort, but a partnership can entail a more personal and deeper relationship between two parties.

Sharing is caring!