ASEAN officials meet ahead of summit<\/p>\n
HANOI (AFP): Members of the Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations (ASEAN) worked to put final touches on documents in
\nadvance of a summit here, the ASEAN secretary general said on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Officials ended the first of two days of meetings to put the
\nfinishing touches on the Hanoi Declaration and Plan of Action,
\nto be issued at the conclusion of the ASEAN Summit looking at
\nways out of the financial crisis.<\/p>\n
\"They are talking of ways to speed up AFTA and how to phase
\nout tariffs as early as possible,\" Jerry Reyes, secretariat
\nprogram coordinator for culture and information said.<\/p>\n
A new plan would see an acceleration of a schedule to reduce
\ntariffs to five percent or zero percent within the ASEAN Free
\nTrade Area before the current target of 2003.<\/p>\n
Discussions are also centered on how to make ASEAN more
\nattractive as an investment destination.<\/p>\n
\"ASEAN has made it clear that for foreign investment to return
\nin adequate amounts we have to hasten the integration of the
\nASEAN economy,\" Severino said.<\/p>\n
\"The crisis has pushed ASEAN into greater cohesion and
\ncooperation as will be evident when the Hanoi Plan of Action
\ncomes out,\" he added.<\/p>\n
However it was not clear what the overall plan of ASEAN
\nrecovery would look like given the differing responses of each
\ncountry, said Hadenan Jalil, deputy secretary general for trade
\nof the Ministry of Trade and Industry for Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"Each country facing the crisis is different and have their
\nown way of handling it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The directors-general will be looking into the agenda for the
\nASEAN plus three meetings held with Japan, South Korea and China,
\nReyes said.<\/p>",
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