ASEAN and China to launch talks on huge free trade zone
ASEAN and China to launch talks on huge free trade zone
Agence France-Presse, Singapore
A first round of talks aimed at creating what will be the world's
biggest free trade zone, encompassing China and South East Asia,
will be held in Beijing this week, Singapore's trade ministry
said.
A Singapore delegation will be in the Chinese capital from May
15-16 to start talks on a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
between China and the ten-nation Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), the ministry said.
Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and China last year agreed to work out an FTA within the
next 10 years, a move that could result in an integrated market
of nearly two billion people, a third of the planet's population.
Last month, visiting Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao and
Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong called for early
negotiations on the proposed agreement that would cover 10
Southeast Asian countries as well as China.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Singapore also confirmed Saturday that it had been approached
by Taiwan about a free trade deal city state and the island.
"Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) previously proposed to Singapore an
FTA with the separate custom territories of Taiwan, Penghu,
Kinmen and Matsu," the statement said.
It said Singapore has studied the proposal "and is prepared to
proceed with a joint study to explore the feasibility of an FTA
within the framework" of the World Trade Organization and the
goals of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
The small but affluent and trade-dependent city-state has been
spearheading a flurry of FTA negotiations beyond its borders. It
has signed agreements with New Zealand and Japan and is in the
thick of talks with the United States and Australia, with which
it will hold a seventh round of negotiations from May 20-24.
The trade ministry said it expected the trade deal with Japan
to take effect in the middle of the year following the adoption
of the necessary legislation in both countries.