Trade relations hampered by a lack of information
Trade relations hampered by a lack of information
JAKARTA (JP): ASEAN Secretary-General Ajit Singh, in a joint commission meeting with India yesterday, cited a lack of information as the main impediment to better bilateral trade relations.
Speaking at the opening day of the second Joint Sectoral Cooperation Committee meeting between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India in New Delhi, Singh said that this communication gap has prevented relations from reaching their true potential.
"In a nutshell, the problem really boils down to a lack of information and a lack of communication," Singh said yesterday in his speech obtained by The Jakarta Post.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
The second commission meeting will take place in New Delhi before moving to Goa, where the talks will close on Feb. 17.
"The challenge before us is how to exploit the full potentialities which exist," said Singh, who is leading a delegation of some 40 senior ASEAN officials to help boost cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, science and technology.
One of the main topics to be discussed by the delegates during the meetings will be a report produced by an experts group that was established at the first commission meeting in Bali in January 1994.
Two-way trade between ASEAN and India increased from US$2.2 billion in 1990 to $2.5 billion in 1993, much of which favored India's balance of accounts.
"What the report clearly points to is the fact that trade between ASEAN and India is indeed small compared to the potentialities which exist," Singh remarked.
The experts group report concludes that "even where ASEAN countries are major importers and India is an exporter, most ASEAN countries import little or none of their requirements from India, and vice-versa."
Singh noted the need to tackle the issues and suggested concrete steps to remedy them. He later suggested that the ASEAN delegates not overlook the potential of the Indian market, which includes a high-income consumer group of over 160 million people.
Labor
Meanwhile, Singh said that ASEAN and India should work with other developing nations to prevent such issues as labor standards and environmental concerns from being used as new protectionist barriers in world trade.
"We have to be vigilant that in striving to improve the lot of our workers, issues such as the so-called social clause are not attached as conditionalities in any new trade relationship," Ajit Singh was quoted by AFP as saying.
ASEAN and India should work closely with other developing countries to ensure the newly-formed World Trade Organization (WTO) serves the interests of all its members, the Malaysian official said.
Developing nations have expressed worry at attempts by advanced countries to introduce a "social clause" that would link such issues as labor standards and environmental concerns to world trade.
Such a clause could provide for the restriction or prohibition of imports from countries or industries that do not adhere to stipulated standards, hurting the exports of developing nations.
Singh noted a Thai proposal to set up a growth triangle comprising India, Sri Lanka and Thailand that could encourage trade and investment links between ASEAN and India.
India became a sectoral partner of the regional bloc two years ago after putting ASEAN at the center stage of its post-Cold War diplomatic and economic offensive. (mds)