ASEAN claims greater unity with trade zone in 2003<\/p>\n
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (Reuter): Southeast Asian economic
\nministers said they took big steps toward greater unity in annual
\ntwo-day talks ended yesterday by agreeing to make their planned
\nfree trade zone a reality faster.<\/p>\n
They also agreed that when it came to the wider Asia-Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation forum -- a 17-nation grouping that includes
\namong other heavyweights ASEAN's two biggest trading partners the
\nUnited States and Japan -- it was every country for itself.<\/p>\n
\"Each country in ASEAN is in APEC on its own, rather than as a
\ngroup. So each of us has got to evaluate its own national
\ninterest as far as the future positions of APEC relationships is
\nconcerned,\" Brunei's Minister of Industry and Primary Resources
\nAbdul Rahman Taib told a joint news conference.<\/p>\n
\"As a group of course ASEAN would take positions that would
\nfurther progress the objectives of ASEAN,\" Added Philippine
\nSecretary of Trade and Industry Rizalino Navarro.<\/p>\n
ASEAN, which also includes Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and
\nSingapore, agreed this week to speed up the timetable for cutting
\ntariffs within the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) by five years.<\/p>\n
This means as much as 85 percent of goods traded among members
\nwill face tariffs of zero to five percent by Jan. 1, 2003.<\/p>\n
The six also adopted a gradual timetable to include items that
\nhad previously been excluded from the program and pledged to
\ninclude agricultural products for the first time.<\/p>\n
ASEAN -- a vibrant market of 340 million people with a
\ncombined Gross National Product of $430 billion -- hopes the
\nambitious scheme will not only facilitate intra-ASEAN trade but
\nalso entice more investment from abroad.<\/p>\n
Some ASEAN officials have said they fear a dominant APEC could
\nundermine all their efforts. If the ministers shared those
\nconcerns they did not voice them yesterday.<\/p>\n
Strong<\/p>\n
Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade
\nHartarto told a small group of reporters earlier in the day
\nfaster implementation of AFTA would make it strong enough to
\ntackle any trade liberalization moves including APEC.<\/p>\n
\"(ASEAN) will have free trade by the year 2003... It means
\nthat this region is strong enough to face any program of
\nliberalization of trade anywhere in this world,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"I am happy to see the decision on free trade because this is
\na very historic moment... This is a strong decision that will
\nmake this region very strong,\" he said.<\/p>\n
One proposal under APEC, which meets in Indonesia in November,
\nis to cut tariffs among the members by the year 2020, which
\nHartarto pointed out was \"Very far away\".<\/p>\n
Skeptics of the ASEAN vision point out that the six economies
\ndo not really complement each other and in fact compete instead,
\nwhich defeats the purpose of AFTA altogether.<\/p>\n
Only 18 percent of trade in the region is intra-ASEAN,
\nalthough officials estimate once AFTA is in place the increased
\nincentives will boost that percentage to nearly 25.<\/p>\n
Hartarto said ASEAN needed open trade because the region has
\nsome of the fastest growing economies, each dependent on exports.
\n\"The only threat (to ASEAN) is protectionism. The only thing that
\ncan hamper the growth is protectionism,\" he said.<\/p>\n
On other issues, the six ministers have agreed that a
\nframework for standard rules on intellectual property rights
\nshould be drawn up based on existing treaties and commissioned a
\nstudy to consider linking ASEAN to other existing trade
\ngroupings.<\/p>\n
They also agreed to start work on coordinating transport,
\ncommunications and other infrastructure development.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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