Brussels, 12/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - Negotiations for bilateral free-trade agreements with Malaysia and Singapore are making progress. However, the EU has major ambitions with the economies of the ASEAN zone, and also wishes to conclude agreements with Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
South-East Asia, a major driving force for the global economy, with its fast-growing markets, is a region favoured by the EU, which is seeking new bilateral trade agreements. After the inter-bloc negotiations, launched in 2007 and put on ice in 2009, broke down between the EU and ASEAN, a failure which was due both to the great diversity among the members of the Asian bloc and the major obstacle that was Burma/Myanmar, Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is carrying out a trade offensive with the countries of South-East Asia, to make the most of the region's dynamism. “Asia will continue to be a driving force for the global economy, the EU needs to strengthen its ties with countries of the region, particularly those of ASEAN, in terms of trade and other tangible forms of cooperation”, he stated last week at a meeting with representatives of the Asian media - for the benefit of both sides, he stressed.
Launched in 2010, negotiations for agreements with Singapore and Malaysia are well on track to conclude in 2012, early in the year for the former, towards the end of the year at best for the latter. Once they have been concluded, however, the agreements could take two or three years to finalise the documents. But De Gucht is planning to launch negotiations with four other countries of the ASEAN bloc, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, the last of which may be the next discussion partner.
Thailand, which was recently hit by major flooding, is one of the strong economies with which the EU hopes to boost trade, investment and cooperation in many areas very quickly, the press agency Thai News said on 12 December. Negotiations for a bilateral agreement will be the subject of a meeting on the sidelines of the ministerial conference of the WTO in Geneva in mid-December, between De Gucht and Thai Trade Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong. Thailand has already set up a working group with interested parties from industry to look into the possibility of launching talks with the EU. Bangkok is now waiting for a mandate from its parliament. Public procurement, foreign ownership of businesses, opening-up of the services market, intellectual property rights - particularly on medicines - and liberalisation of tariffs on wines and spirits are particularly sensitive dossiers for the country. With a volume of bilateral trade worth €21.9 billion a year, Thailand is the EU's third-largest partner in the ASEAN zone. (EH/transl.fl)