Asian leaders to meet at economic summit
Asian leaders to meet at economic summit
Agence France-Presse
Bangkok
The first summit of leaders from seven Asian nations
representing 1.3 billion people starts here on Friday to
rejuvenate the tortuous process towards establishing a free trade
area by 2017.
The summit is designed to push on with closer economic
cooperation after a stuttering start to the seven-year-old
BIMSTEC group, as the region grows in confidence after the
disastrous Asian financial crisis of 1997.
The gathering is big on symbolism -- bridging the gap between
the two Asian regions -- but trade within the group represents
only US$7.3 billion, or four percent of the total, with
negotiations on tariff cuts are not even due to start until later
this year.
The seven -- Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand
and new members Bhutan and Nepal -- are due to draw up a
"roadmap" to navigate the course towards the opening of markets.
But analysts played down the significance of the meeting in
the Thai capital.
Prapat Thepchatree, director of the Centre for International
Policy Studies, said: "The (Thai) government would like to
promote this into a very big event. But for me as an observer,
this kind of grouping and cooperation will be a gradual
evolution, it will be a slow process."
"It's very nominal compared with Thai-U.S. trade, Japanese or
other Asian countries."
The battles against terrorism and HIV/AIDS and the creation of
an Asian monetary fund will also feature during the two days of
discussions involving foreign ministers, six prime ministers and
the Sri Lankan president.
While the foreign ministers gather on Friday, Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will meet his Myanmar counterpart
General Khin Nyunt amid international concern over the pace of
democratic reforms by the military junta.
Thaksin will try to persuade him to join a new multinational
round of talks in Bangkok to push for democratic reforms and the
release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.
The summit also marks the first overseas trip by Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh since he took office in May.
"With the process of globalization moving apace, BIMSTEC
countries realize the imperative of regional cooperation," Singh
said in an interview with The Nation newspaper on Friday.
"We believe BIMSTEC can evolve into a dynamic, exemplary,
economic grouping."
BIMSTEC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand -
Economic Cooperation) was founded in 1997 -- the year the
economic crisis hit -- to foster economic links between Southeast
and South Asian nations, concentrating on six key sectors from
tourism to technology.
The three most advanced members, India, Sri Lanka and
Thailand, are committed to trade liberalization by 2012, with the
others following within five years.
The signing of a free trade agreement in the Thai resort
province of Phuket earlier this year was almost scuppered by the
late withdrawal of Bangladesh because of a row over compensation
for lost tariff revenue. It later signed up to the deal.
This summit has already been delayed five months after its
cancellation in February when the then-Indian premier Atal Behari
Vajpayee canceled his plans to attend.