ASEAN told to speed up economic integration<\/p>\n
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Tuesday urged
\nthe 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to
\nspeed up economic integration to better compete with China and
\nIndia.<\/p>\n
Abdullah said it was crucial for the region to pool its
\nresources and create a mass market of half a billion people to
\n\"position ourself in competing with China and India, the two
\ngiants of Asia that are coming up very, very quickly.\"<\/p>\n
He told a two-day economics conference in Kuala Lumpur that
\nMalaysia did not view China as a threat but more of an
\nopportunity due to its huge consumer market and as a challenge
\nfor the country to improve its competitiveness.<\/p>\n
\"A big economy like China is certainly an opportunity for us
\nif we do not do the same thing that China does in producing goods
\ncheaply because of the advantage of cheap labor cost,\" said
\nAbdullah, who is also finance minister.<\/p>\n
\"We can find a niche for ourselves by producing quality goods
\nusing high technology. We need to be competitive.\"<\/p>\n
UBS head of Asia-Pacific economics Jonathan Anderson told the
\nconference that Asia has rebounded strongly after the 1997-98
\nregional financial crisis but economic integration remained a
\nhuge challenge.<\/p>\n
\"It is clear that Asia is back on its feet but ASEAN today
\nremains a distressingly fragmented place. ASEAN needs to compete
\nas a whole rather than individual states,\" he said.<\/p>\n
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
\nMyanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
The regional grouping hopes to have its own free trade area
\nbeginning 2010 and a European-style single market 10 years later.<\/p>\n
It is negotiating with China to create the world's biggest
\ntrade zone and similar plans are in the works with South Korea
\nand India. -- AFP<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asean-told-to-speed-up-economic-integration-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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