Mari says ASEAN trade important for Europe
Mochammad Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Singapore | Fri, 05/14/2010 7:15 PM
Europe has been an important business partner of ASEAN countries for the last 20 years, said Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu on Friday.
“Trade between ASEAN and Europe rose 2.5 times during the period, and exceeded ASEAN’s trade with either Japan or the US,” Mari said at the 12th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business in Singapore.
ASEAN-Japan trade volume increased 100 percent, ASEAN-US trade increased 50 percent and ASEAN-China trade increased 500 percent over the last 20 years, Mari said.
European countries should not ignore the increasing number of European product consumers in ASEAN, Mari said.
“Let’s ask BMW how many customers it has in ASEAN,” she said, referring the prominent German carmaker.
