'AFTA is on the track'<\/p>\n
Rodolfo C. Severino, Jr, has served as the ASEAN Secretary-
\nGeneral for ... years since .... The former ... shared his view
\nin an interview over the promising AFTA economic cooperation,
\nwhich is expected to turn this region into an integrated
\nproduction base and a market of 500 million people.<\/p>\n
Question: What do you see as ASEAN's major accomplishment in
\n its 35-year history?<\/p>\n
Answer: ASEAN has helped keep the peace among its member-states.
\nIt has done this by providing a forum and a framework in which
\npositive relationships among the countries of Southeast Asia are
\nformed.<\/p>\n
The necessity of regional cooperation and integration in an
\nincreasingly interconnected global economy has given each country
\nin Southeast Asia a vital stake in the others' stability and
\nprosperity. Closer integration among the economies of Southeast
\nAsia in ASEAN has made them more competitive than they would
\notherwise have been.<\/p>\n
ASEAN cooperation in a wide range of areas -- from the
\nenvironment to information technology to communicable diseases to
\ntransnational crime, and now terrorism -- has developed a sense
\nof community, at least among the governments of the region. The
\nhabit of consultation built up over the years has amplified the
\nvoice of each member-state in international forums.<\/p>\n
Through the ASEAN Regional Forum, ASEAN has engaged powers
\nwith important roles in East Asia in consultations on regional
\nsecurity issues, thus contributing to regional stability.<\/p>\n
Q: What is the relevance of ASEAN in today's Asia?<\/p>\n
A: The combination of the end of the Cold War, the march of
\nglobalization, the rise of China's power and influence and the
\nsurge of its economy, and the shifts in Japan's position could be
\na factor for instability in East Asia.<\/p>\n
ASEAN has helped maintain East Asian stability in these times
\nof flux by helping keep Southeast Asia stable and standing as an
\nexample of regional stability through regional cooperation.<\/p>\n
ASEAN has engaged the major East Asian and other powers in the
\nregion's development through the ASEAN dialog system and in its
\nsecurity through the ASEAN Regional Forum.<\/p>\n
ASEAN has enabled each Southeast Asian country to play an
\ninfluential role in the affairs of East Asia. ASEAN has fostered
\ncooperation with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea in the
\nASEAN+3 process and through the dialog system and ARF and, in so
\ndoing, helped bring the countries of East Asia together. China,
\nJapan and Korea have used the ASEAN+3 forum to develop
\nconsultations and cooperation among themselves. ASEAN is at the
\nhub of the network of currency swap arrangements in East Asia
\nthat is meant to foster financial stability in the region. ASEAN
\nhas spearheaded the formation of linkages between East Asia and
\nEurope and between East Asia and Latin America.<\/p>\n
Q: What is the relevance of AFTA in today's global trading
\nenvironment?<\/p>\n
A: ASEAN is integrating the regional economy principally through
\nthe ASEAN Free Trade Area. At the same time, ASEAN countries and
\nASEAN itself remain open to global trade, as they have been from
\nthe time of ASEAN's founding. ASEAN countries, collectively and
\nindividually, have thus been plugged into the global trading
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
ASEAN has supported the launch of a new round of multilateral
\ntrade negotiations in WTO, while insisting that the results be
\nfair and balanced, that the developed countries fulfill the
\ncommitments made in previous rounds, and that the interests of
\ndeveloping countries be taken into account.<\/p>\n
ASEAN has been seeking to strengthen its trading and other
\neconomic relationships with China, Japan, Korea, and Australia
\nand New Zealand, even as the United States and the European Union
\nremain important economic partners. AFTA, a market of half a
\nbillion people, can thus be considered a major building block of
\nthe global trading system.<\/p>\n
Q: What are the main obstacles facing AFTA in today's
\nrecessionary Asia?<\/p>\n
A: AFTA is on track. AFTA's accelerated schedule for the first
\nsix signatories to the agreement has already been achieved, with
\n95.7 percent of the intra-ASEAN trade in goods now with tariffs
\nof no more than five percent or none at all. ASEAN has to move
\non, beyond the 1 January 2002 AFTA milestone. Member-countries
\nhave to move faster toward their targets for abolishing tariffs
\namong themselves. They have to progress expeditiously toward zero
\ntariffs. Beyond tariffs, they have to streamline customs
\nprocedures and harmonize product standards. They have to move
\nfaster in their negotiations on trade in services. They have to
\nstrengthen transport linkages -- land, air and sea. They have to
\nembark on extra efforts to bring the development level of the
\nnewer members closer to that of the older members. They have to
\nwork together on telecommunications and information technology.
\nAll these ASEAN is working on. But it has to do more to make AFTA
\nand ASEAN itself better known in the international business
\ncommunity and to the public at large.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/afta-is-on-the-track-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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