ASEAN urged to make progress on trade deals with China, SKorea, Japan

ASEAN urged to make progress on trade deals with China, SKorea, Japan

	Published : Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:15 By : Agencies Print this Story

MANILA Thomson Financial - Southeast Asia must ratify free trade deals with China and South Korea and make progress on a similar accord with Japan, as the region prepares its own free-trade zone, the Philippine government said Monday.

At a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Philippine President Gloria Arroyo urged the bloc to make progress on these deals as it tries to achieve its aim of setting up an ASEAN free-trade zone by 2015.

Arroyo, in an address that opened the gathering, said negotiations about the free trade agreements (FTAs) with China and South Korea were in the final stages, awaiting ratification by ASEAN's 10 members, and she called on all sides to work harder on an agreement with Japan.

ASEAN and Japan have been negotiating for a long time, but have so far failed to reach agreement. The Japan-ASEAN talks have generally shown little progress because Japanese officials aim to strike a comprehensive agreement.

Japan and ASEAN have promised to sign a deal in November, but fears about fast-track negotiation measures have risen among Japanese businesses, which are jittery about China's and South Korea's approach towards Southeast Asia.

ASEAN and China signed a framework agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation in 2002 and are expected to form a bilateral free trade area by 2010, which would cover nearly two billion people.

A deal covering merchandise trade between South Korea and ASEAN, excluding Thailand, came into force in June. Negotiators wish to reach a deal covering services and investment by the end of this year.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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