Reuters report published on 23 August 2004, obtained here.

ASEAN brings forward free trade deadlines by 3 yrs
23 Aug 2004 07:25

BANGKOK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Southeast Asia has agreed to bring forward by three years key free trade deadlines which form the backbone of its roadmap towards an EU-style trade bloc by 2020, a senior Thai official said on Monday.

The new committment will see Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and the Philippines form an Association of South East Asian Nations Free Trade Area (AFTA) by 2007, rather than 2010 as originally intended.

Apiradi Tantraporn, director-general of Thailand’s Trade Negotiation Department said the deal, which feeds into the main 2020 drive towards an integrated ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), would be signed at a regional summit in Laos in November.

The six nations, the oldest members of the 10-strong ASEAN, would eradicate import tariffs on thousands of items including car parts, clothes, textiles, electronics, fisheries, and wood, farming and rubber products, she said.

Newer and poorer ASEAN members Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia would cut their import tariffs to zero in 2012, compared with an original target date of 2015.

ASEAN leaders first endorsed the AEC in Bali in 2003 in a bid to create an EU-style single market capable of competing with China for the attention of investors.

However, a recent study by management consultants McKinsey castigated the grouping for failing to show the political will to eradicate non-tariff barriers, such as national regulations, which also hamper the creation of a genuine single market.

Posted on August 24th, 2004 by jl
Filed under: ASEAN