Bush to push free trade initiative in Southeast Asia

Bush to push free trade initiative in Southeast Asia

P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse, Manila

U.S. President George Bush is to step up Washington's
initiative to forge bilateral free trade agreements during his
visit to Southeast Asia in October, officials said on Wednesday.

Bush is expected to launch negotiations for a free trade
agreement (FTA) between Washington and Thailand when he attends a
Bangkok summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum on October 20-21, an official of the U.S.-ASEAN Business
Council said.

This will spur talks for separate agreements with other
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states,
council president Ernest Bower told reporters at the annual ASEAN
finance ministers meeting here.

Washington sees its FTA with Singapore, the only one signed
with an ASEAN member so far, as a stepping stone to a potential
500 million consumers in Southeast Asia.

"A U.S.-Thailand FTA has a good possibility of being launched
in October when President Bush visits Bangkok," said Bower, who
is to meet with the finance ministers to push the FTA agenda.

"Indications are that Thailand is ready and with the U.S.-
Singapore cornerstone already laid and the U.S.-Thailand FTA
coming up after that, and hopefully Malaysia, those will
highlight the benefits of FTAs politically to the region as well
as in the U.S.," he said.

Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah
Aziz "has already decided to move forward" with initial
negotiations for a U.S.-Malaysia FTA while the Philippines and
Indonesia could also consider coming aboard after their
presidential elections in 2004, Bower explained.

"Once they get their new teams in place after the elections,
FTAs with the U.S. will be on the table for both of these
countries," he said.

"We are pretty optimistic about this. It it a big work agenda
but one that U.S. businesses welcome and we are very positive,
lobbying hard to move quicker here in Manila (at the ASEAN
meeting) and Washington," Bower added.

His council groups top U.S. firms doing business in the 10-
member ASEAN, comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.

The council is conducting a series of joint studies through
think-tanks from U.S. and each ASEAN member state to determine
the benefits of bilateral free trade arrangements.

Bower said the U.S.-Singapore FTA signed in May was expected
to add about US$20 billion in the next five years in new economic
activity between arguably two of the world's most open economies.

"That's already pretty incredible so, think about what
incremental value you can gain with (other ASEAN) countries with
trade barriers that are actually very much an impediment to new
investments and new trade.

"I think you could see huge numbers in terms of U.S.-ASEAN
trade and investment as these FTAs are formed," Bower said.

The Enterprise for ASEAN Initiative announced last year by
Bush offers ASEAN members opportunities to sign FTAs with
Washington provided they are committed to economic reforms and
openness, officials said.

The United States is the largest investor in Southeast Asia
and the biggest export market for the region.

"So we have a lot to gain and a lot to lose if we do or don't
stay active in the region," Bower said.

U.S. investments in ASEAN so far have risen to $50 billion,
according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, but Bower said the
"current value" is three times more than that.