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ndonesia will carry out the first ASEAN Trade Facilitation Forum on Aug. 13 as part of the 43rd ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM) next week in a bid to help businesses in the region better utilize facilities under existing trade agreements and gain further benefits from their deals.

Trade Ministry ASEAN cooperation director Iman Pambagyo said on Friday in Jakarta that the event, sponsored by the ASEAN Secretariat and the US government, would discuss facilitation measures, including single windows, custom processing procedures, better transit mechanisms, mutual recognition and a single inspection system.

“We want to encourage ASEAN businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to take maximum benefits from several trade agreements signed by ASEAN members and their counterparts and we can cooperate in number of aspects, such as standardization,” he told reporters on a briefing on the ASEAN meeting.

The meeting, scheduled to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 13 in Manado, North Sulawesi, will also engage eight of ASEAN’s key partners representing 43 percent of world trade in 2010: the US, Australia, India, Japan, Korea, China, Russia and New Zealand.

ASEAN has sealed several free trade agreements, especially in goods trade, with key partners such as Japan, Korea, China, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Iman cited an example that SMEs usually faced non-tariff barriers, such as standardization, while entering ASEAN as well as world markets. The forum would try to seek ways to help firms overcome such barriers, including how to reach similar standards with their ASEAN trade partners.

“We basically want to offer training to SMEs on how they can meet standards. But along with that, we need to talk with our dialogue partners about how we can equate their standards with our standards,” he said.

A number of business organizations have pledged participation in the forum, including the ASEAN Business Council, ASEAN Business Advisory Board, India-ASEAN Business Council, European Union-ASEAN Business Council and various industrial associations, such as textiles, automotive and pharmaceuticals.

According to Iman, apart from the main focus on the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community, the AEM will also highlight the increasing role of ASEAN in the East Asia region, which is currently emerging as the world’s main center of economic growth.

“ASEAN is developing, but it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Regions surrounding ASEAN are also developing. One of our focuses will be on how we can take measures to cope with current developments,” he said, referring to several negotiations, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and potential free trade agreements among Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members and between China, Japan and Korea.

Established in 1967, ASEAN consists of 10 members in Southeast Asia region, representing 600 million people, with a combined gross domestic product of US$3.08 trillion last year.