ASEAN Summit to amend CEPT, forge new ties
ASEAN Summit to amend CEPT, forge new ties
JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) is poised to amend its preferential trade agreement and
take fresh initiatives in several sectors to further expand trade
liberalization.
ASEAN Secretary-General Ajit Singh said yesterday that the
association's ministerial meeting and summit, which begin in
Bangkok next week, are likely to see amendments to the
preferential trade agreement -- the Common Effective Preferential
Tariff (CEPT) -- as well as new framework agreements and action
plans regarding a number of key sectors.
He said that some of the amendments and new agreements were
necessary to accommodate the entry of ASEAN's newest member,
Vietnam, while others flowed the new target of 2003 for the
establishment of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). The original
timetable provided for the advent of AFTA in 2008.
"The amendment of the CEPT agreement is necessitated by the
acceleration of AFTA and the inclusion of unprocessed
agricultural products (in the agreement)," Singh said.
ASEAN is a socioeconomic grouping, founded in 1967, which now
consists of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The latter became a member in
July.
The CEPT agreement provides that ASEAN members will reduce
intra-regional tariffs and remove non-tariff barriers with the
ultimate aim of establishing AFTA.
ASEAN's leaders will meet in Bangkok for their fifth summit
from Dec. 14 to Dec. 15. The summit will be preceded by two
ministerial meetings, which will focus on political and economic
issues, and meetings between senior officials.
To better coordinate customs controls among ASEAN members, the
leaders will also endorse harmonization initiatives, including
the creation of a "Green Lane" to facilitate and step up
clearance of CEPT products.
Services
New areas of economic cooperation to be studied by the ASEAN
leaders include services, intellectual property rights,
investment and the development of small and medium-sized
enterprises.
Going further than mere cooperation, the planned agreement on
services will include the possibility of preferential
liberalization to help increase the competitiveness of service
suppliers.
"The liberalization of the service sector is to be made
through a process of negotiation which is scheduled to begin on
Jan. 1, 1996," Singh said.
He added that the key service sectors which have been proposed
are finance, telecommunications, tourism, construction, air and
maritime transport and business services.
On the issue of intellectual property rights, the association
is debating the possibility of having an ASEAN patent and
trademark system.
Apart from stimulating domestic research and innovation,
greater cooperation would encourage investment, Singh said.
Action plans have also drawn up for the promotion of foreign
direct investment as well as intra-ASEAN investment.
According to Singh, an action plan has been approved. It takes
into account each member's industrial policies and possible areas
for liberalization.
Reviewing the planned initiatives of the summit, Singh
expressed confidence about the meeting.
"We think the summit is going to take another step forward in
strengthening intra-ASEAN cooperation," he said.
He noted that within a year of agreement on the AFTA plan in
1993, intra-ASEAN trade had risen by 41 percent, while trade in
goods covered by the CEPT had increased from US$63.4 billion to
$92.6 billion.
With stability, peace and continued economic growth averaging
more than 7 percent each year, ASEAN is one of the fastest-
growing trade regions in the world.
"At the current rate of expansion, ASEAN may overtake Japan as
the world's third-largest trading entity by the year 2000," Singh
said. (mds)