Asean, EAS states agree to lower trade barriers
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Asean has forged closer ties with the eight other East Asia Summit member countries to promote trade and investment as well as reduce trade barriers.
At the second ministerial-level EAS in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, it was agreed that Asean should remove trade barriers and other perceived obstructions to economic growth.
Chutima Bunyapraphasara, permanent secretary of the Commerce Ministry, said Asean and the eight other members agreed that they needed to cooperate more closely during the recovery of the global economy, and could do that by reducing barriers and adjusting rules and regulations to facilitate economic growth.
The non-Asean EAS countries are China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, the United States and Russia.
Along with reducing or removing trade and investment barriers, the other key areas of cooperation are facilitating trade growth, adjusting or amending trade and investment regulations, and creating regional linkages and connectivity for logistics and transport.
The other key areas are developing infrastructure and supporting “high quality” free-trade agreements (FTAs), in particular the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Trade Facilitation Agreement under the World Trade Organisation.
The ministers also discussed cooperating on industrial clusters and the establishment of special economic zones in Asean to facilitate industrial growth and draw more investment from EAS members.
