Regional trade<\/p>\n
A year ago at their last summit, ASEAN leaders spoke of
\ncreating a large East Asian free trade area that would also
\nencompass South Korea, Japan and China.<\/p>\n
An expert group that looked at the practicalities of creating
\nsuch a free trade area has now come back with ways in which it
\ncan be created in the context of a larger East Asian Community.<\/p>\n
If ever there was a time to seriously look at lowering trade
\nbarriers in East Asia, it is now. The United States economy,
\nwhich has been the motor driving prosperity in the ASEAN region,
\nhas slowed down.<\/p>\n
The potential of such a trading bloc, which would stretch from
\nChina all the way to Indonesia, is not difficult to imagine. It
\nwill encompass a third of the world's population and would
\ninclude the world's fastest growing economy, China.<\/p>\n
In earlier years, there had been a reluctance in the region to
\nconsider such an extended trade bloc. Countries like Singapore
\nfeared that such a move might decouple the U.S. from the
\neconomies of Southeast Asia. Other ASEAN members feared that
\nJapan would dominate the trade bloc.<\/p>\n
These worries have largely been overtaken by events, namely
\nthe downturn in the U.S. economy. The long slowdown in Japan
\nmakes it less of a concern than before.<\/p>\n
The real threat to ASEAN exports will come from China once it
\njoins the World Trade Organization. One way out is an East Asian
\nfree trade area that will open the Chinese market to ASEAN goods
\nand vice versa. Hopefully, regional leaders meeting in Brunei
\nwill take this idea a step further.<\/p>\n
-- South China Morning Post, Hong Kong<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/regional-trade-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }