ASEAN urged to crank up campaign on AFTA benefits

ASEAN urged to crank up campaign on AFTA benefits

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Bali

Two months after the ASEAN free trade area (AFTA) was fully
implemented, visiting ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong on
Thursday acknowledged that many people in the region remained
unaware of the benefits to be derived from competition under
AFTA.

"Many people in all the ASEAN countries are not fully aware of
the meaning of competition," Ong told reporters on the sidelines
of a two-day ASEAN conference on fair competition law and policy.

He urged the ASEAN member countries to take action to boost
the public's understanding of competition to help smooth the
implementation of AFTA.

"We tell the people that competition will benefit consumers as
it will produce lower prices," he said.

The conference was sponsored by the ASEAN secretariat, the
World Bank and Germany-based Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH.

The conference is aimed at developing a common understanding
among ASEAN countries of the benefits of competition laws and
policies in the implementation of AFTA.

"In terms of policy, all of us here must agree ... to move
constructively to set up our own respective competition policies
or laws," Ong said.

Ong expressed disagreement with the policies of some countries
in maintaining high import tariffs on a number of products.

"There are some countries that are maintaining high import
tariffs and want to delay AFTA, but we have signed an agreement
so we have to implement it," Ong said.

AFTA was agreed upon in 1993, with the implementation of the
free trade scheme initially scheduled for 2008. The timeframe was
later brought forward to 2003.

Under the AFTA scheme, the six original ASEAN member countries
-- Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the
Philippines and Thailand -- have to slash their import tariffs on
almost all products traded in the region to below five percent.

The four newer ASEAN countries -- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and
Myanmar -- are allowed to delay their tariff reductions until
2010.

According to Ong, the adoption of competition policies and
laws by individual member countries would promote, among other
things, the protection of consumer well-being, address
uncompetitive practices in enterprises, and make the countries
more attractive to foreign investors.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Indonesia's Business Competition
Supervisory Commission (KPPU), Syamsul Maarif, said that
competition law in ASEAN should be a key component in developing
a freer regional market.

"Without any provision for rules on competition, trade
liberalization cannot prevent business players and the
authorities from creating new barriers," Syamsul said.

The KPPU was set up three years ago to promote fair
competition in the business sector and prevent monopolistic
practices from developing.

However, according to the KPPU report, it had found
difficulties in curbing unfair business practices here due to the
loopholes in the existing regulations, and lack of support from
the government.

The KPPU also expressed concern over the country's judicial
system, which had not displayed any goodwill in helping promote
fair business competition as shown by the handing down of several
court verdicts in favor of unscrupulous businessmen.