EU, ASEAN back new global trading regime under WTO<\/p>\n
Jitendra Joshi, Agence France-Presse, Brussels<\/p>\n
The European Union and Southeast Asia Tuesday held out the
\nprospect of a trade pact between their regions, but said the
\npriority for now should be to secure a new global regime via the
\nWorld Trade Organization.<\/p>\n
At a two-day meeting here, foreign ministers of the EU and the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) backed the WTO's
\nDoha round of negotiations aimed at freeing up world trade.<\/p>\n
They discussed \"the important role of the multilateral trading
\nsystem embodied by the WTO in contributing to world economic
\ngrowth and reinforcing international economic relations\", a joint
\nstatement said.<\/p>\n
The two sides agreed to work together on the Doha objectives
\nof benefiting developing nations in areas such as market access,
\nand also supported the WTO membership bids of ASEAN members
\nCambodia, Laos and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said a long-term aim for
\nhis region was to secure a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the
\nEU.<\/p>\n
\"The ASEAN-EU FTA is an ideal. We will look towards that,\" the
\nSingaporean official told a news conference.<\/p>\n
\"But at the moment, we should look towards the conclusion of
\nthe Doha round and get the best benefits and best understanding
\nfor every country,\" Ong said.<\/p>\n
\"The ministers on both sides were able to appreciate that the
\npriority today, at this moment, is to get the best out of the
\nDoha round.\"<\/p>\n
After losing out in recent years to the cheaper labor markets
\nof China, ASEAN in November signed a deal with the communist
\ngiant to create the world's biggest FTA by 2015, embracing 1.7
\nbillion people.<\/p>\n
ASEAN is also in talks to forge a similar deal with Japan.<\/p>\n
EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said Europe
\nand Southeast Asia already had a successful trading partnership,
\nand noted that after the EU welcomes 10 more members next year,
\nboth it and ASEAN will be home to more than 500 million people.<\/p>\n
\"But we are concerned that we should be able to encourage more
\nEuropean investment in ASEAN and I think that the more that it's
\npossible for ASEAN to promote economic integration, the more
\nlikely it is that we'll see success in attracting investors,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Our priority is a successful outcome to the Doha development
\nround,\" Patten added.<\/p>\n
\"But we are prepared for bloc-to-bloc discussions on trade
\nand, I hope after a successful Doha round, to negotiate a
\npreferential trade regime between the European Union and the
\nASEAN countries.\"<\/p>\n
Such a regime would depend on ASEAN's ability to bring down
\nnon-tariff barriers such as different regulations and customs
\nrules between its member states, Patten said.<\/p>\n
The European Commission -- the EU's executive arm -- is
\nformulating a new strategy towards southeast Asia due for release
\nin the spring to update a relationship that is based on a
\nbilateral accord signed in 1980.<\/p>\n
Since then, both the EU and ASEAN have been transformed
\nthrough the addition of new members and a vastly changed world
\npicture for trade.<\/p>\n
The EU now has a common market between its members, which the
\nASEAN chief acknowledged could teach his region much as it gropes
\ntowards its own free-trade area by 2020.<\/p>\n
\"What came across is the idea that we should look at Southeast
\nAsia as one single market of 500 million-plus people, and the EU
\nside explained, hey, we have done this single market thing for a
\nlong time and maybe we have some experiences that we can share,\"
\nOng told AFP.<\/p>\n
In 2001, the EU was ASEAN's second-largest export market and
\nthird-largest trading partner after the United States and Japan.<\/p>\n
ASEAN exports to the EU were estimated at 65.7 billion euros
\n(US$70 billion), while the region's imports from the EU were
\nvalued at 42.2 billion euros, according to European Commission
\nfigures.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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