The Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership (RCEP) is unlikely to bring immediate significant benefits for its developing member countries in terms of flow of goods and services or major infrastructure investments, analysts and economists said.

The pact needs to be ratified by all countries, which may take time, and has different levels of tariff reductions for each country and product, the experts told the Reuters Global Markets Forum.

That means labour-intensive countries may get more imports than exports, particularly during the pandemic, over the short-term.

The RCEP is seen as a China-backed alternative to the U.S.-led Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The pact has no provisions to improve labour rights in member countries, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic to justify reductions in formal wages and conditions, said Kate Lappin, Asia Pacific regional secretary at Public Services International. " Lappin said.

Lappin said she expected RCEP to benefit countries with developed industrial policies - namely China, Japan, Korea and Australia, along with New Zealand in terms of agricultural products - that support growth of higher value industries.