SINGAPORE, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- ASEAN member countries must step up the pace for integration, trade ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members said here on Sunday.
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), meeting this week for the group's 13th summit, are due to sign a blueprint for creating a vast single market and production base covering about 570 million people by 2015.
"Either ASEAN gets into the act or integration will bypass ASEAN, and integration will involve new players like China and India and other emerging economies," Singapore Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang was quoted by Channel News Asia as saying.
"In a way we are setting up the framework, in a way we are also playing catch-up," he told a gathering of business leaders on the summit sidelines.
The ministers said that tangible steps to break down protectionist walls and embrace integrated policies are in the works, whereas the economic disparity between ASEAN member countries came up as they discussed the challenges to ASEAN economic integration.
Commerce minister of Cambodia Cham Prasidh considered integration as an opportunity for less developed countries to match pace.
"As long as we are part of this dynamic block, we are sure that although we are in the last wagon, we are still running at the same speed as the train. But if we are not hooked onto the locomotive, it's slow death. That's why it's very important for Cambodia to do it," he said.
Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu acknowledged that making the free trade zone a reality would not be an easy task, but said the region had to persevere.
"We really have to see this in a very, very positive way," she said. "We cannot stop the clock - we need to make ourselves more competitive."
The two-day ASEAN Business and Investment summit ended in Singapore on Sunday. The summit is a key meeting between the private and public sectors in the region to identify measures to facilitate and promote ASEAN economic initiatives.
Leaders of 10 ASEAN countries -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- are to take part in the 13th ASEAN summit and related meetings from Nov. 18-21 in Singapore.
They are expected to sign the group's charter during the summit, which aims to build a solid institutional framework that will facilitate a more focused and coordinated agenda.
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), meeting this week for the group's 13th summit, are due to sign a blueprint for creating a vast single market and production base covering about 570 million people by 2015.
"Either ASEAN gets into the act or integration will bypass ASEAN, and integration will involve new players like China and India and other emerging economies," Singapore Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang was quoted by Channel News Asia as saying.
"In a way we are setting up the framework, in a way we are also playing catch-up," he told a gathering of business leaders on the summit sidelines.
The ministers said that tangible steps to break down protectionist walls and embrace integrated policies are in the works, whereas the economic disparity between ASEAN member countries came up as they discussed the challenges to ASEAN economic integration.
Commerce minister of Cambodia Cham Prasidh considered integration as an opportunity for less developed countries to match pace.
"As long as we are part of this dynamic block, we are sure that although we are in the last wagon, we are still running at the same speed as the train. But if we are not hooked onto the locomotive, it's slow death. That's why it's very important for Cambodia to do it," he said.
Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu acknowledged that making the free trade zone a reality would not be an easy task, but said the region had to persevere.
"We really have to see this in a very, very positive way," she said. "We cannot stop the clock - we need to make ourselves more competitive."
The two-day ASEAN Business and Investment summit ended in Singapore on Sunday. The summit is a key meeting between the private and public sectors in the region to identify measures to facilitate and promote ASEAN economic initiatives.
Leaders of 10 ASEAN countries -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- are to take part in the 13th ASEAN summit and related meetings from Nov. 18-21 in Singapore.
They are expected to sign the group's charter during the summit, which aims to build a solid institutional framework that will facilitate a more focused and coordinated agenda.
1 comment:
Yes, go full speed integration please. Remember, we are racing against inflation. Don't hold anything back.
God blesses ASEAN!
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