Officials preparing for a summit of Southeast and North Asian leaders are focusing on boosting trade with China, relegating the issue of freedom for Myanmar opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi to the back burner.
During talks yesterday, members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) also voiced concern about the North Korean nuclear crisis and said South Korea and China had indicated another round of talks on the standoff could take place soon.
Top diplomats from South Korea and China briefed their colleagues in the 10-member ASEAN on the last round of talks in Beijing in August that also involved North Korea, the US, Japan and Russia and said they had underscored the wide differences between Pyongyang and Washington.
PHOTO: AFP
However, Chinese officials told the meeting, another round of talks on the nuclear crisis could take place in the near future in Beijing. Diplomats have said it could be held in November.
"We just pray for it because we see a trend that the problem on the Korean peninsula can be resolved through talks without the use of weapons," said top Indonesian diplomat Makarim Wibisono.
Regional security as well as trade dominated discussions in the run-up to a meeting of foreign ministers today and tomorrow and a summit of leaders of ASEAN joined by South Korea, China and Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Accelerating the process of negotiating an agreement with China on an economic framework for a free-trade pact was under discussion with the aim of establishing such a zone within 10 years, officials said.
India would sign a framework agreement with ASEAN at its summit next week, leading to a full free trading area within a decade, Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said last week.
Its negotiation has been unusually rapid by Indian standards, overtaking the planned China agreement and signalling the importance of the deal as India has watched China's trade with ASEAN grow dramatically over the last decade.
ASEAN also wants to counterbalance China's growing economic clout in the region by boosting ties with India.
There was little mention of Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest after an operation last week. She had earlier been held at a secret location after being detained on May 30.
ASEAN officials had previously said the situation in Myanmar was becoming an increasing embarrassment for the group.
But yesterday, officials would only say that her transfer to house arrest from detention was a positive development.
In terms of the talks with China, several items would be put on a fast-track for liberalization, one Indonesian diplomat said, but declined to give details.
Officials are keen to stress that the group that includes such prosperous economies as Singapore as well as tiny, underdeveloped Laos wants to focus on economic integration at this summit.
The action plan for an ASEAN Economic Community, a brainchild of wealthier members such as Singapore and Thailand, has been completed, with 11 sectors to be put on a fast track towards free trade, including electronics and wood-based industries.
Officials have declined to give details of how the fast-tracking would work.
However, a report commissioned by ASEAN from business consultants McKinsey has highlighted lack of integration, non-tariff barriers and disparate policies that favor the competitiveness of single nations at the expense of the entire group as among problems the bloc must face.
ASEAN has a total population of 500 million and combined GDP of US$700 billion while total trade is around US$720 billion.
It groups Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Thailand.
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