ASEAN review free-trade progress<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Faced with new challenges posed by an
\nunprecedented financial crisis, Southeast Asian ministers meet
\nthis week to review progress towards realizing a free-trade area
\nearly next century.<\/p>\n
Amid fears in some quarters that financial turmoil might
\nderail the 10-year timetable, economic ministers from the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will also meet
\ntheir counterparts from Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, New
\nZealand and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).<\/p>\n
The annual meeting of ASEAN ministers starting Thursday will
\nbe the first to include Myanmar and Laos, both admitted to the
\nregional grouping in July.<\/p>\n
Under an agreement reached in 1993, the six most developed
\nmembers -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
\nSingapore and Thailand -- agreed to work toward an ASEAN Free
\nTrade Area (AFTA) by implementing common effective preferential
\ntariffs of five percent or less by 2003.<\/p>\n
Vietnam, which joined ASEAN in 1995, has until 2006 while the
\ndeadline for newcomers Myanmar and Laos is 2008.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah
\nAziz said last month that 93 percent of the tariff lines of the
\noriginal six members had already been included in the scheme, up
\nfrom almost 91 percent in July.<\/p>\n
She said this week's meeting would be \"significant\" as members
\nwould reaffirm their commitment to move towards tariffs of 20
\npercent by next year for items where prevailing rates were still
\nabove 20 percent.<\/p>\n
But some analysts reckon the group's free-trade plans might be
\nupset by the crisis which has battered regional currencies and
\nstock markets since early July when Thailand floated the baht.<\/p>\n
With some currencies losing more than a third of their value,
\ntrade flow projections are being redrawn across Asia.<\/p>\n
\"The possibility that AFTA will end in failure is getting
\nbigger,\" says Shunta Yamato, regional analyst at Daiwa Institute
\nof Research in Tokyo.<\/p>\n
While Thailand will suffer a slump in the short term, he
\nbelieves it could eventually join the ranks of the more developed
\nASEAN members Singapore and Malaysia, exposing weaknesses in
\nIndonesia, the Philippines and the others.<\/p>\n
Yamato also doubts whether Japan can play the same role with
\nASEAN as the United States did with Mexico three years ago when
\nthe peso collapsed, helping to bring about a recovery by sucking
\nin cheap imports.<\/p>\n
Japan's International Trade and Industry Minister Mitsuo
\nHoriuchi is nevertheless expected to announce measures to raise
\nimports of Southeast Asian products when he meets with the ASEAN
\nministers here Friday.<\/p>\n
The measures are expected to cover trade insurance and plans
\nto help Japanese importers make payments in advance along with
\ntechnical cooperation and human resource development to support
\nindustries such as auto parts makers.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, for its part, plans to raise the issue of currency
\ndepreciation at the annual meeting in a bid to minimize the
\nimpact on trade and investment.<\/p>\n
Rafidah says the proposed \"strategies\" will include focussing
\non the most competitive industries in the region and taking
\nmeasures to boost intra-ASEAN trade which stood at 155 billion
\ndollars last year.<\/p>\n
Strategies adopted are expected to be put to an ASEAN summit
\nin December, to which Japanese, Chinese and South Korean leaders
\nhave been invited.<\/p>\n
The ministerial meeting starting Thursday will be preceded by
\na meeting of the AFTA Council on Wednesday and followed by
\nconsultations between the nine ministers and an ASEAN Central
\nCommittee on Investment.<\/p>\n
On Friday and Saturday, the ministers meet their counterparts
\nfrom Japan followed by Australia and New Zealand and finally the
\nSouthern Africa Development Community before a separate meeting
\nwith ministers from Japan, China and South Korea and a final
\nsession will all ministers attending.<\/p>\n
During the meetings, three agreements will be signed including
\na protocol of accession by Myanmar and Laos along with a protocol
\non notification procedures for modifying AFTA commitments and
\nobligations.<\/p>\n
ASEAN ministers will also sign a protocol on the first package
\nof offers under a framework agreement on services.<\/p>\n
Under a 1995 initiative, ASEAN has identified tourism,
\ntelecommunications, air services, shipping, construction,
\nbusiness services and financial services as ripe for
\nliberalization.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asean-review-free-trade-progress-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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