Xinhua
Economic ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convened here Wednesday for their 42nd annual meeting and the 4th ASEAN Economic Community Council's meeting, expressing their will and determination to reach the goal of establishing a single market in the region by 2015.
At these meetings, the ministers vowed to continue building the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and discussed measures to promote the implementation process, said Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang at a press briefing here Wednesday to brief the outcome of the meetings.
The ministers reaffirmed their resolve to implement timely and substantively the measures in the AEC Blueprint to ensure the credibility and integrity of ASEAN economic integration with the realization of a single market and production base in 2015, said a joint media statement issued by the ASEAN economic ministers on Wednesday.
At the 42nd ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meeting, the ministers were pleased to note the realization of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) on Jan. 1 this year as duties on 99.65 percent of all tariff lines under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff Scheme for the AFTA have been eliminated, said the statement.
They vowed to eliminate all forms of non-tariff barriers to maximize the benefits from tariff reduction and reaffirmed the commitment to promote trade facilitation measures for free flow of goods in the region.
Regarding services, much progress in integration of trade in this area was also noted. The expected endorsement of a protocol to implement the eighth package of service commitments in October this year is believed to lead to improved market access for services suppliers in ASEAN in various modes of supply, according to the statement.
During the meeting, the ministers also agreed on the need to sustain private sector interest in the AEC process, said Hoang.
They attached the importance of public-private sector engagement to ensuring greater mutual synergies in the implementation of regional development and integration measures, he said.
Hoang said that the ministers realized the necessity to bringing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) into the mainstream of ASEAN economic integration.
Therefore, a strategic action plan for ASEAN SMEs development in the 2010-2015 period was endorsed by the ministers on Wednesday to reach that aim.
At the meeting, the ministers welcomed signs of an improving global economic environment as well. They forecast ASEAN's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is over 5 percent this year, compared with 1.5 percent in 2009, according to the statement.
ASEAN currently groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
At these meetings, the ministers vowed to continue building the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and discussed measures to promote the implementation process, said Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang at a press briefing here Wednesday to brief the outcome of the meetings.
The ministers reaffirmed their resolve to implement timely and substantively the measures in the AEC Blueprint to ensure the credibility and integrity of ASEAN economic integration with the realization of a single market and production base in 2015, said a joint media statement issued by the ASEAN economic ministers on Wednesday.
At the 42nd ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meeting, the ministers were pleased to note the realization of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) on Jan. 1 this year as duties on 99.65 percent of all tariff lines under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff Scheme for the AFTA have been eliminated, said the statement.
They vowed to eliminate all forms of non-tariff barriers to maximize the benefits from tariff reduction and reaffirmed the commitment to promote trade facilitation measures for free flow of goods in the region.
Regarding services, much progress in integration of trade in this area was also noted. The expected endorsement of a protocol to implement the eighth package of service commitments in October this year is believed to lead to improved market access for services suppliers in ASEAN in various modes of supply, according to the statement.
During the meeting, the ministers also agreed on the need to sustain private sector interest in the AEC process, said Hoang.
They attached the importance of public-private sector engagement to ensuring greater mutual synergies in the implementation of regional development and integration measures, he said.
Hoang said that the ministers realized the necessity to bringing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) into the mainstream of ASEAN economic integration.
Therefore, a strategic action plan for ASEAN SMEs development in the 2010-2015 period was endorsed by the ministers on Wednesday to reach that aim.
At the meeting, the ministers welcomed signs of an improving global economic environment as well. They forecast ASEAN's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is over 5 percent this year, compared with 1.5 percent in 2009, according to the statement.
ASEAN currently groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
7 comments:
if siem keeps on wanting to steal from cambodia, how could asean be one like the EU?
Do they sell Khmer women in this market?
Nice goal, but what is the mechanism that in place right now to deal with territorial dispute between members?
You have a country like Thailand being taken hostage by nationalist criminals who refuse to listen to reason. And you have a spineless Thai PM who is only too willing to oblige. Do have anything in place to deal with that?
If you don't then ASEAN ministers are just kidding themselves.
One way is to temporarily suspend a country in turmoil like Thailand from being a member. Kick them out until they get thei chaotic house in order!
Otherwise, ASEAN common economic community is just a dream in the sky. And the clown Abhisit will continue to pull down the organization's image. Other members image should not be pulled down with the Siem's crazy political madness. Let them bear their own shame. One can only guess what will happen when the "old man" is gone.
Should we have ASEANS UNION just like EU? If yes, why and if no, why not? I guess China will be the leader of ASEANS UNION.
ASEAN community has no system to build a more cohesive community.
Nationalism in Thailand is dragging others down. And in Burma, the gov't does not want to listen to anyone. Now you have Thailand rule by military power, just like Burma. The Thai gov't slaughtered over 90 people in May.
Yet no ASEAN member come to condem them because of non-interference policy...what a bunch of crap!
ASEAN is as spineless as the Abhisit government. ASEAN wants to model after EU, but ASEAN's vast majority of the people are not as educated as the European. You have the Thai Yellow mad dogs, running loose claiming territory not belong to them. ASEAN nations have idiots like these PAD whose thinking still stuck in the 18th century. Uneducated dogs like these is what keep ASEAN from progressing. They are the laughing stock to the whole world.
ASEAN becoming like an EU is good for every member state because of economice win-win for everyone.
However, there is a lot of work to be done in the area of fostering cultural understanding among people of member states. Asian people tend to look down on each. The Europeans did too, but you can say they have grown up now where they learned to live side by side respectful to one another.
EU Population is about the same as ASEAN. EU population is more education in general than ASEAN.
Nationalism in EU is not as fervent as people of ASEAN nations. Nationalims blind people. For example, the Thais will never admit much of its culture is borrowed from Khmer. On the other hand Western Europeans would NOT shy away from admitting many things in its modern civilization is taken from the Greek and the Roman.
In short, Asians still want to live in willful ignorance like the Thais.
how is it possible if siem or thailand continue to be aggressive and want to steal from cambodia? how can cambodia cooperate with asean? makes no sense, really!
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