ASEAN urged to integrated production

ASEAN urged to integrated production

BANGKOK (AFP): The World Trade Organization's next chief
Supachai Panitchpakdi has urged Southeast Asian nations to form
integrated production networks demanded by multinational
corporations, a report said Wednesday.

In an interview with The Nation newspaper, Supachai reiterated
his support for a regional free-trade arrangement to help drive
growth among ailing Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN)
economies.

He warned that Southeast Asia risked being passed by as
multinationals moved towards systems where parts and components
were allocated to different countries or factories to produce
before being assembled as finished products.

"ASEAN countries have to be part of this regional
manufacturing base or they will be left out of the regional
economic model," he said.

Supachai said closer economic cooperation in the region would
ensure sustainable growth after the shock of the 1997-98 economic
crisis.

He called on Asian countries to widen their cooperation to
create an Asian Economic Community, which might eventually
incorporate India.

Supachai, who served as Thailand's Commerce Minister until the
change of government earlier this year, will succeed Mike Moore
at the helm of the WTO next year.