Asia and Europe reiterate resolve for liberalization
Asia and Europe reiterate resolve for liberalization
SINGAPORE (AFP): Senior officials from member countries of the Asia-Europe meeting have reiterated their resolve to keep the two region's markets open despite renewed protectionist pressure.
The three-day conference of some 150 trade and investment officials here -- the first to be held after the second ASEM summit held in London in April 1998 -- ended Saturday, noting significant progress in plans for wide-ranging programs for economic cooperation, officials said.
But in a statement they expressed concern over "the rise of protectionist pressure in the wake of the financial crisis."
The crisis, which began in Asia in mid-1997, has spread throughout other emerging markets, threatening to bring down the economic growth rates of Europe and the United States, which are large markets for the struggling economies.
There have been repeated warnings against insulating ailing industries from further liberalization, a move that analysts say would have severe repercussions for countries trying to export their way out of the crisis.
"They stressed the importance of continued implementation of the trade and investment pledge made at ASEM (summit in London) which will contribute to maintaining a free and open trading environment," said Finian Tan, deputy secretary of Singapore's ministry of trade and industry and co-chairman of the meeting.
The officials said that pursuing liberalization plans would "allow for the quick recovery of affected economies and to prevent the crisis from deepening and spreading," Tan said.
Karun Kittisataporn, a director-general at Thailand's ministry of commerce and also a co-chair said however, that "there is no rising protectionism in Asia."
A testimony to this was the December summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) where leaders showed that the nine-member grouping "does not look back on its commitment to trade and investment," he said.
"After measures that have been done by the (Asian) countries, there are signs of stability and positive signs of recovery," said Karun, referring to a raft of reforms mandated by the International Monetary Fund which has extended huge aid packages to countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea.
ASEM comprises 25 countries -- 10 from Asia including seven from ASEAN, and 15 from the European Union -- plus the European Commission.
"We are just warning each other among the 25 governments and the (European) Commission: Don't succumb to that (protectionist) pressure," Karun said.
The officials' meeting here updated a program to facilitate trade through lower tariffs and other non-tariff measures in areas such as customs procedures, testing standards and intellectual property rights.
Asian officials also urged their counterparts to continue pursuing high-level business missions from Europe to Asia.
To facilitate investments, ASEM is setting up a virtual information exchange website being developed by the European Commission, which will provide comprehensive information on member countries' regulations and initiatives for those wishing to invest.
ASEM will also compile a table of national investment promotion and policy initiatives that have been effective in enhancing inward investment flows, said Tan.
These plans will be brought forward to another meeting of senior officials in Brussels in July and then to the Economic Ministers Meeting in Berlin in October.
Unlike the World Trade Organization, pledges made in ASEM are non-binding, but officials said this hardly affected resolve by countries to keep their markets open.
"Just because it's non-binding, it doesn't mean it doesn't carry any weight. There's a lot of peer pressure. Member countries feel obliged to do what they say, do what they agree on," said Tan.