RI, RP considering establishment of trade forum

RI, RP considering establishment of trade forum

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Philippines and Indonesia, two members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), are considering the setting
up of a forum aimed at fully implementing AFTA in the trade
relations between the two countries.

The proposal to establish the forum, which will be known as
the Philippines-Indonesia Trade Dialog, was presented by
Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel A Roxas II to his
Indonesian counterpart Rini MS Soewandi on the sidelines of the
Informal ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting held from July 12 to
July 13 in Jakarta, according to a press release from the
Philippine embassy in Jakarta made available to The Jakarta Post
on Friday.

Rini welcomed the proposal, according to the embassy.

The embassy quoted Roxas as saying that trade relations
between the two countries had been strengthened following the
full implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) this
year. AFTA requires the six senior members of ASEAN -- Indonesia,
the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei
Darussalam -- to cut import tariffs on all commodities to a
maximum of five percent.

However, he said, there were some difficulties concerning
implementation that had prevented the business sectors of the
ASEAN member states from fully enjoying the benefits of AFTA.

He did not specify what these were, but businessmen have often
complained that despite AFTA, several ASEAN members continued to
protect their industrial sectors by setting up non-tariff
barriers on products from fellow ASEAN members.

The Philippines-Indonesia Trade Dialog is aimed at fully
implementing the AFTA principles.

"This (the Philippines-Indonesia Trade Dialog) will not be a
breakaway splinter of ASEAN. On the contrary, it will mean that
the two countries will respect their membership in ASEAN, but
will focus on administrative measures to facilitate the
liberalization policies of ASEAN," one of Roxas' delegation was
quoted by the embassy as saying.

Roxas was optimistic that the trade dialog would be effective
as the Philippines and Indonesia had very strong historical and
cultural ties, as well as obvious geographical links.

"An Indo-Fil Trade and Investment Axis may well be in the
making. And this could be a very practical building-block
approach to implementing AFTA and the long term vision of ASEAN,"
he said.