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ASEAN, China expect higher trade prior to regional integration

Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng and economic ministers from ASEAN have praised the strong economic relationship between the two economies and hope to post a higher trade volume target by the end of 2015

Kurniawan Hari (The Jakarta Post)
Naypyidaw
Wed, August 27, 2014

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ASEAN, China expect higher trade prior to regional integration

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hinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng and economic ministers from ASEAN have praised the strong economic relationship between the two economies and hope to post a higher trade volume target by the end of 2015.

The economic ministers were pleased that the world'€™s second-largest economy remained ASEAN'€™s biggest trading partner, with China-ASEAN trade reaching US$350.5 billion, 14 percent of the group'€™s total trade, last year, and were confident it would grow further in 2015, when ASEAN was due to implement its economic integration.

'€œThe ministers'€™ reaffirmed their commitment to achieving the joint target of $500 billion in trade by the end of 2015,'€ the ministers said in a joint statement after the 13th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM)-Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) consultations in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on Tuesday.

The ministers also highlighted progress in the implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) and were confident that ACFTA was still commercially relevant.

They agreed an ACFTA upgrade was a testament to the strong relationship between ASEAN and China. '€œ[The upgrade] will also deepen the economic interests of both sides in a mutually beneficial manner,'€ they added.

During the consultation, which was chaired by Myanmar Minister for National Planning and Economic Development Kan Zaw, the economic ministers endorsed some key elements that would detail the focus of the upgrade and assigned senior economic officials from each of the related countries to start negotiating the details.

The senior economic officials were also told to complete their negotiations on custom procedures and trade facilitation (CPTF) and their review of the rules of origin.

Indonesia Trade Ministry director for ASEAN cooperation, Donna Gultom, said the AEM-MOFCOM consultations reviewed some issues affecting trade, for example, in goods, between ASEAN and China. '€œWe renewed our commitments in trade and how to make trade beneficial to all sides.'€

During the consultations, the ministers also welcomed the establishment of subcommittees on standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures (STRACAP), and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, which had previously been convened in their inaugural meetings in March.

The key tasks of the subcommittees are to develop the work program to implement the related Protocol on Technical Barriers to Trade and SPS signed in November 2012, and to review the progress by parties in implementing their commitments and addressing implementation problems.

Separately, the ASEAN economic ministers also held a joint talk with Japanese Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi on bilateral trade and investment between the two economies.

ASEAN-Japan trade reached $240.9 billion in 2013, or 9.6 percent of total ASEAN trade. Japan was the association'€™s third-largest trading partner after China and the European Union (EU).

Japanese investments in ASEAN reached $22.9 billion in 2013, making it the second-largest source of foreign direct investment for ASEAN.

At the meeting, the economic ministers also underlined the importance of the June 24 dialogue between ASEAN secretary-general Le Luong Minh and the Federation of Japanese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in ASEAN (FJCCIA).

According to them, the dialogue had increased the interests of Japanese business communities in Southeast Asia, particularly in the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of 2015 and deepening economic integration in the region.

The ministers also identified some particular issues that had become the concerns of the Japanese business players, such as the establishment of an ASEAN highway and transboundary special economic zones, a secure supply of energy, the development of human resources and the enhancement of public-private partnerships.

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