ASEAN countries forge ahead with borderless region plan<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries
\nconcluded on Friday the eighth transportation ministers annual
\nmeeting in Jakarta, vowing to liberalize the movement of people
\nand goods within the region.<\/p>\n
At the end of the two-day meeting, the ministers produced a
\nmemorandum of understanding (MOU) on air freight services, which
\nis dubbed as the first step toward the full liberalization of air
\nfreight services in the ASEAN region.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Minister of Transportation Agum Gumelar said that
\nthe MOU allowed the designated airlines of each ASEAN member
\ncountries to operate all-cargo services up to 100 tons weekly
\nwith no limitations on frequency and aircraft types.<\/p>\n
\"The results of the meeting will ensure and accelerate
\nmobility of people and goods within ASEAN countries, which could
\nlater on boost trade, investment and tourism in the region,\" Agum
\ntold a press conference here.<\/p>\n
Also attending the press conference were ministers from other
\nASEAN countries, including others Ling Liong Sik from Malaysia,
\nHla Myint Swe from Myanmar, Zakaria Sulaiman from Brunei
\nDarussalam and Yeo Cheow Tong from Singapore.<\/p>\n
In their two-day meeting here, the ministers also agreed to
\nsimplify procedures on the movement of \"dangerous goods\" within
\nthe ASEAN member countries.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, an official at the Indonesian Ministry of
\nTransportation acknowledged that in the past, procedures and
\nrequirements for the movement of dangerous goods within ASEAN
\nwere complicated, inhibiting the movement of such goods.<\/p>\n
An example of goods categorized as dangerous are explosives.<\/p>\n
So for the sake of accelerating the establishment of a free
\ntrade area, the procedures must be simplified, said Kalalo
\nNugroho, head of law and international cooperation at the
\nministry.<\/p>\n
\"It includes the scrapping of unnecessary documents,\" said
\nKalalo said.<\/p>\n
However, the agreement could not be immediately implemented as
\nthe ASEAN countries still needed time to draft new regulations
\nbefore the agreement takes effect.<\/p>\n
The theme of this year's transportation ministers meeting is
\nfocused at facilitating an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) within
\nthe region.<\/p>\n
AFTA was launched in January this year, with ASEAN founding
\nnations like Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines,
\nSingapore and Thailand lowering their tariffs on a wide range of
\nproducts traded among them to below 3 percent.<\/p>\n
This year's meeting was also the first meeting between ASEAN
\nand China transport ministers. China was represented by its
\nminister of communications, Huang Zhendong.<\/p>\n
The involvement of China in this year's ASEAN transportation
\nminister meeting was the follow-up of ASEAN and China Summit in
\nBrunei in November 2001.<\/p>\n
In the summit, ASEAN and China agreed to set up a free trade
\narea within 10 years, which could give birth to a market of 1.8
\nbillion consumers and create the largest free trade block in the
\nworld.<\/p>\n
Related photo on Page 13<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asean-countries-forge-ahead-with-borderless-region-plan-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }