ASEAN economics ministers to meet in Yogyakarta

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economics ministers are to meet informally in Yogyakarta on Jan. 19 and Jan. 20 to discuss, among other things, economic integration in the region.

"The meeting will prepare for a formal meeting due in September in Jakarta," the director general for international cooperation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Pos M. Hutabarat, announced on Monday.

He said two main topics were to be discussed.

"First, we want to speed up integration within ASEAN, particularly intra-ASEAN trade. Second, ASEAN's economic integration with other countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and India," Pos said.

He said intra-ASEAN trade had slowly grown to 22 percent of the total trade of the region from 18 percent 10 years ago. The ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), which cut import tariffs on most products to between zero and 5 percent starting 2002, is expected to give a strong impetus to trade. ASEAN mostly trades with the United States and Japan.

"In comparison, the intra-regional trade of the European Union now reaches 80 percent of the region's total trade, while the intra-regional trade of Mercosur reaches 30 percent," Pos explained.

Mercosur, a South American economic group, consists of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and Bolivia.

The main reason behind the low trade among ASEAN members is the fact that many of them have similar resources and produce similar products.

"The resources owned and goods produced by ASEAN countries are similar, such as crude palm oil, electronics, rubber, textiles," he said.

Another problem is that ASEAN countries apply different standards on products, such as the size of clothes and voltage requirements for electronic products.

"We (ASEAN member countries) are currently trying to harmonize standards for goods produced in ASEAN. Similar standards are expected to boost intra-regional trade," said Pos.

The Yogyakarta meeting will also be attended by European Union (EU) trade commissioner Pascal Lamy, with whom ASEAN economics ministers will talk on ASEAN-EU trade and commerce relations.

Four main topics to be discussed by ASEAN leaders and Lamy are product standards, e-commerce, tourism and intellectual property rights.

"The European Union wants to increase its trade with ASEAN countries, as now trade between ASEAN and the U.S. is higher than to the EU," said Pos.

In 2003, trade between ASEAN and the EU totaled US$220 billion with a surplus of about $30 billion for ASEAN.