Thailand to propose ASEAN Customs Union<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (DPA): Thailand will propose the establishment of an
\nASEAN Customs Union at the upcoming summit of Southeast Asian
\nleaders being hosted by Singapore later this week, Thailand's
\ndeputy prime minister said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"We have to start thinking about the possibility of a Customs
\nUnion,\" said Thai Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panichpakdi, who
\nis also Thailand's commerce minister.<\/p>\n
Supachai said he had advised Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai
\nto raise the proposal at the upcoming informal summit of leaders
\nfrom the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to be
\nheld in Singapore on November 24-25.<\/p>\n
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
\nMyanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
\nVietnam.<\/p>\n
The European Union took 17 years to go from being a free trade
\narea to a Customs Union, which establishes a uniform tariff
\nsystem for the E.U.'s trade with all countries outside the union.<\/p>\n
Supachai, who will become the head of the World Trade
\nOrganization (WTO) in two years time, said ASEAN should push a
\nsimilar customs union as a means of strengthening the grouping's
\nappeal to foreign investors as a free trade area with a single
\ntariff structure with the world.<\/p>\n
\"One thing that will make it compulsory to think along these
\nlines will be the entry of China into the WTO,\" Supachai told a
\nroundtable discussion in Bangkok organized by the Konrad Adenauer
\nFoundation of Germany.<\/p>\n
China is likely to enter the WTO in mid-2001, a development
\nwhich is likely to undermine ASEAN's competitiveness in certain
\nexport industries and as a draw for foreign direct investment
\n(FDI) from multinational companies.<\/p>\n
\"We must realize that with China in the WTO a lot of FDI that
\nused to be directed to ASEAN has been redirected to China,\"
\nwarned Supachai.<\/p>\n
Supachai argued that ASEAN would need to speed up its ASEAN
\nFree Trade Area (AFTA) scheme and consider upgrading it to a
\nCustoms Union as a means of making the region more attractive for
\nforeign investment.<\/p>\n
\"We need to make ourselves more attractive,\" the deputy prime
\nminister told a small gathering of reporters and ASEAN officials.<\/p>\n
The ASEAN Secretariat is expected to release a study it has
\ncompiled on the impact of China's pending entry into the WTO on
\nthe region at the upcoming summit in Singapore.<\/p>\n
\"In certain sectors there may be more intense competition for
\ncountries whose exports directly compete in areas where China is
\nstrong,\" acknowledged ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino.<\/p>\n
He added, \"And there could be some investment diversion. ASEAN
\nis already concerned about the drop in FDI which has happened
\nbefore China's entry into the WTO.\"<\/p>\n
Severino expressed some surprise at Supachai's suggestion that
\nASEAN set up a customs union, a system which has only been
\ndiscussed by academics in the past.<\/p>\n
\"This was the first time I've heard it backed by such a senior
\nofficial,\" said Severino.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thailand-to-propose-asean-customs-union-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}