Brussels, 05/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The failure of bloc-to-bloc negotiations between the EU and ASEAN has been accepted: EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is now looking to negotiate more individual free-trade agreements with the countries of South-East Asia, in addition to those with Malaysia and Singapore, to benefit from the dynamism of the region.
Taking part in the first Business Summit between the EU and ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations: Brunei, Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), De Gucht launched a trade offensive in Jakarta on Thursday 5 May to tap into the economic dynamism of a market of some 600 million where growth is expected to be somewhere between 5 and 10% this year. With bilateral trade in goods and services worth €175 billion, ASEAN is the EU's seventh largest trading partner, the EU being the South-East Asian bloc's second largest partner, behind China. The EU is the largest investor in a region where European companies invested over €10 billion every year between 2002 and 2009.
European companies, however, face fierce competition from Chinese, Japanese and South Korean firms. Thus, the Commission is seeking to encourage other South-East Asian nations, in particular Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, to negotiate bilateral trade pacts similar to those negotiated with Malaysia and Singapore since 2010. “Given the economic dynamism of the ASEAN region, I see considerable opportunities for working more closely together in the coming years”, said De Gucht before flying out to Jakarta. Thailand, it would seem, is prepared to enter into talks, but has first to be given the go-ahead by its national parliament. Vietnam accepted the principle of negotiating an agreement with the EU in spring 2010. Talks have still to be opened, but the Commission hopes they will be launched before the end of the year. The EU is still awaiting official confirmation of interest from the Philippines. This leaves Indonesia, which has long resisted the idea of a bilateral, rather than a bloc-to-bloc, agreement. While in Jakarta, De Gucht intended to try to convince the Indonesian authorities of the merits of an individual bilateral agreement. On Wednesday, Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu called for a doubling of trade, valued at $20 billion in 2010, between her country and the EU. Presentation at the summit in Jakarta of the findings of a study by a joint group of representatives of industry, government and academia, highlighting the benefits of such a pact, might just tip the balance in favour of a trade pact. (E.H./transl.rt)