ASEAN leaders urge trade, finance liberalization

ASEAN leaders urge trade, finance liberalization

HANOI (Dow Jones): Southeast Asian leaders will call for increased liberalization of trade and services and faster implementation of a regional tariff agreement at a summit of leaders in Hanoi next week, according to a preliminary draft of a joint declaration.

A draft of the so-called Hanoi Declaration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, obtained by Dow Jones Newswires on Monday, also calls for better monitoring of economies in the region, orderly capital account liberalization and stepped up deregulation of the financial sector.

It suggests that a framework be developed for an ASEAN bond market by 2010, and selected companies be cross-listed on Asean stock markets by 2003.

The draft will provide the basis for discussions at the summit, and could be changed. The meetings begin this week with talks among senior officials, and continue with a weekend meeting of economic ministers and a summit of leaders from Asean's nine members Dec. 15-16.

ASEAN includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos. Leaders from Japan, China and South Korea will also participate in the summit.

Despite the regional economic crisis, the 20-page document reiterates the importance of moving toward the ASEAN Free Trade Area early in the next century. Some economists have predicted that the regional slowdown would hurt trade liberalization by making it more painful for countries to cut their tariffs.

The draft urges steps to accelerate the implementation of the AFTA accord by "maximizing" the number of tariffs lines that will be cut to zero to 5 percent by 2000, and expanding the number of products covered by the agreement. The draft doesn't provide specific targets, however.

It also calls for talks on trade liberalization to be held from 1999 to 2001 to include "all services sectors and modes of supply," not just sectors that had been identified as priorities.