ASEAN and EU leaders endorsed a five-year plan to enhance security and trade ties yesterday and urged Myanmar's military junta to speed up democratic reforms and release Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
After three days of debate over Myanmar among Asian leaders, who were in Singapore for annual political and trade summits, members of ASEAN turned to negotiations with the EU to conclude a five-year action plan and continue negotiations on a free trade agreement.
But the actions of Myanmar -- accepted into ASEAN in 1997 -- still occupied much of the agenda.
A joint declaration by both sides called for the release of political detainees and the "early lifting" of restrictions on political parties in Myanmar.
During discussions between trade ministers of the two blocs, both sides confirmed Myanmar would not be excluded from negotiations for a free-trade agreement between the 10 ASEAN countries and 27 EU countries.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong insisted the region must move beyond the debate over Myanmar.
"While Myanmar is a significant issue, relations between ASEAN and EU should not be held hostage by it," he said.
Questions had been raised about whether the EU would try to block Myanmar from inclusion in the free-trade talks after its junta crushed pro-democracy protests in September, killing at least 15 people.
EU foreign ministers on Monday approved several additional sanctions against Myanmar, including a ban on the imports of timber, gemstones and precious metal. The new sanctions come on top of an existing travel ban on Myanmar officials, an arms embargo and a freeze on Myanmar assets in Europe.
Preliminary negotiations with the EU over a free trade pact started in May and are set to conclude in late 2009.
The ASEAN and the EU action plan covers political and security cooperation, trade and investment, sustainable development of mineral resources, as well as the advancement of science and technology. The pact also resolves to address climate change.
Lee said it would take ``a lot of creative work'' to conclude the free trade agreement by 2009.
ASEAN has free trade agreements with China and is inking pacts with Japan and India.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS