ASEAN finance ministers yesterday ended a meeting which saw Southeast Asia edge closer to a Europe-style single market, laying out a "road map" for integration and opening doors to wider global trade.
Under plans due to be ratified at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos in November, tariffs in 11 industry sectors will be abolished by 2012 -- forming a common market in them covering 530 million people.
But while regional powerhouses China, Japan and South Korea agreed timetables for strengthening trade ties with ASEAN, the Southeast Asians were urged to tighten controls and increase openness to stamp out rampant counterfeiting and to harmonize links.
Developments on further free-trade deals were expected later yesterday following meetings between the ASEAN ministers and representatives from the EU, Australia, India and New Zealand.
Under the road map, tariffs on rubber, electronics, autos, textiles, air travel, tourism, agriculture, e-commerce, fisheries, wood and healthcare will be scrapped in 2007 between ASEAN's six more developed members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Four other members, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, have been given until 2012 to abolish tariffs in the 11 priority sectors and to fully integrate with the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).
At a summit in Bali last October ASEAN leaders endorsed a plan to achieve a single production base and market by 2020, with a free flow of goods, services and investments in the region.
Officials said economic integration is crucial for ASEAN to better compete with fast-growing rivals as the region shakes off the effects of the Asian financial crisis and recent uncertainties due to SARS and the Iraq conflict.
"We have to be committed to achieving ASEAN economic integration through AFTA because we are competing with other countries. A common market of 500 million people must become a reality," said Indonesian Trade Minister Rini Suwandi.
She added that ASEAN must better protect intellectual property rights to attract more foreign investment, with countries such as Japan already withdrawing input from the region due to concerns over copyright violation.
Officials on Saturday also agreed to begin negotiating a free-trade deal early next year with Australia and New Zealand.
Australia Trade Minister Mark Vaile said negotiations between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, and Australia and New Zealand would begin in early 2005 and conclude within two years. The timeline will be considered for approval at ASEAN's summit in Laos in October.
"The move towards a free-trade agreement (FTA) is a decisive step forward in Australia's engagement with ASEAN," Vaile said. "The decision builds on our strong network of bilateral trade and investment links within Asia and complements our bilateral FTA's in Singapore and Thailand and our scoping studies with Malaysia and China."
The announcement comes a day after ASEAN agreed on a timetable for negotiations on a free-trade agreement with Japan and South Korea.
Talks with Japan will start in April and would be concluded in two years. Negotiations with South Korea are set to begin in January and concluded in two years, with the agreement taking effect by 2009.
Also on Saturday, ASEAN and China settled on draft agreements to liberalize trade in goods and services as well as dispute settlement mechanisms. China and ASEAN have already agreed to establish a free-trade area by 2010.
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