KL, Bangkok to settle row

KL, Bangkok to settle row

HANOI (AFP): Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to resolve a
row over auto industry protection which threatened Southeast
Asian efforts to set up a free trade area, ministers from the two
countries said Friday.

Thailand had objected to Malaysia's insistence on a reprieve
from the free trade area's rules for its national car
manufacturer Proton.

"We will resolve the matter bilaterally," said Thai Commerce
Minister Bohdaramik Adisai. "A friendly mutual outcome will
follow in the near future."

Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah
Aziz said the two sides had agreed to find a solution before a
summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian nations in
Brunei in November.

"Malaysia has agreed that because it is a bilateral matter, we
will resolve it bilaterally," she said. "We have left ourselves
until Brunei to come up with something."

Proton is the biggest selling car in Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines and Thailand with some 20 percent of the market,
Automotive Resources Asia (ARA) Ltd. said in a report released
last month.