East Asia economic bloc unlikely, Akrasanee says

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The East Asian economy will only get better and stronger and has the potential to become one of the world's most powerful economic forces, according to Thailand's former minister of commerce Narongchai Akrasanee.

However, Akrasanee doubted that such situation would lead the countries within the region toward forming an integrated economic bloc -- a concept that has been center stage in the region in the last two to three years.

"I believe that the emerging East Asia economic area will be the third economic center of the world, but is unlikely to be an economic bloc," he said in a speech on Wednesday, during the launching of a book titled, ASEAN-Japan Cooperation: A foundation for East Asian Community, to commemorate the 30th year of a relationship between the Association of Southeast Asian countries and Japan.

Akrasanee was invited to deliver the 2003 Panglaykim Memorial Lecture before a forum here organized and hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a respected think thank in Jakarta.

Akrasanee, a former senator who currently serves as an advisor to Thailand's deputy prime minister, pointed to negative implications if the area were to form such a bloc -- the reason why it was unlikely.

The impacts would all center mainly on two things.

Not only would it prompt retaliatory action from other areas, be it within or outside the region, but would also -- more importantly -- exclude themselves from the outsiders.

Both would only bring in undesirable impacts to the area, he added.

The concept of an East Asia economic bloc -- which should group together the region's established economic giants such as Japan and South Korea, coupled with the newly born China, with Asia's emerging economies in the manner of ASEAN countries -- has been widely discussed not only in the region, but also outside.

Akrasanee highlighted a number of reasons behind the emergence of such a discussion. First of all, the countries in the area are beginning to realize that they have become a significant part of the world's economy.

By the end of last year, the combined gross domestic product (GDP) of those countries stood at 21 percent of total world GDP, while exports reached a quarter of the world's total. In comparison, in the 1970s, the total GDP and exports in the area were still 14 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Aside from that, Akrasanne went on, other reasons for the intensive discussion on the issue were that these countries were disappointed at the unjust system exposed by the existing global economic corporation such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as how the global financial system works -- often very much against developing countries, as evident in the recent regional financial crisis.

Another point that only recently came to the surface was the politically driven economic system, which has been introduced by developed countries, notably the U.S.

"They are ruining many things what we're trying to accomplish by doing that. First they did it with the politics of the Cold War, and now, with the politics of international terrorism."