Southeast Asia to remain competitive in manufacturing: Singapore

Southeast Asia to remain competitive in manufacturing: Singapore

Agence France-Presse, Singapore

Southeast Asia will remain competitive as a manufacturing base despite the rapid growth of industries in China, Singapore Trade Minister George Yeo said Wednesday.

"First, Southeast Asia has a longer history in advanced manufacturing and has built up strong competencies over the years, with well-developed knowledge clusters," he said.

"Second, while China is a fierce competitor in some sectors, China's growth and prosperity will benefit us in Southeast Asia, as has always been the case in history," he said.

Yeo was speaking in the Indonesian island of Bintan, near Singapore, where he and Indonesian counterpart Rini Suwandi visited an expanded industrial estate.

He said a proposed free trade area between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China should give products from Southeast Asia greater access to the giant Chinese market.

The growth of India should also benefit ASEAN, a 10-nation regional bloc with a combined population of about 500 million people. ASEAN and India have also agreed to work out a free trade agreement within 10 years.

Yeo said Singapore is likely to launch talks on a comprehensive bilateral economic cooperation agreement, including a free trade pact, with India this coming April.