Agence France Presse
CHIANG MAI, Thailand, Oct 4 (AFP) - Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic ministers were urged Wednesday keep the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) on track and hasten regional cooperation as they began a series of meetings here.
"Amidst uncertainties of the current economic situation, ASEAN must come together to accelerate the process of regional cooperation," said Abhisit Vejajiva who chaired the meeting of the ASEAN Investment Area (AIA) Council of Ministers.
ASEAN must also "strengthen economic structures in both the short and long term," said Abhisit, a minister attached to the office of Thailand Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai.
"To strengthen the fundamentals of growth in the long-term, the implementation of AFTA, liberalisation of trade and services and the AIA must be taken seriously," he said.
The AIA council gathering is the first of a series meetings by the economic ministers of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in this northern Thai resort lasting until Saturday.
Officials here said the AIA council will hear a report on investment trends into ASEAN and measures to enhance the region's comeptitiveness amid stronger competition from awakened dragon China.
The US Senate vote granting permanent trade relations status to China and Beijing's anticipated entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are expected to hurt ASEAN exports and divert foreign direct investments away from the region, analysts and officials have said.
But officials say ASEAN also boasts of a market of more than 500 million people -- larger that the European Union and the North American Free Trade Area -- with a combined gross national product of 835.8 billion US dollars as of 1997.
Under the AIA, ASEAN countries will give investors from within the region the same privileges as their own nationals by 2010 and by 2020 this will be extended to investors from outside ASEAN.
The ministers were to meet later Wednesday under the AFTA Council to review progress on members' tariff cut commitments.
Senior economic officials who held preparatory meetings over the past two days said keeping AFTA on track would top the agenda of the ministerial discussions.
Despite a pledge to accelerate the implementation of AFTA, the Asian financial crisis which hit the region in 1997 and 1998 has forced some countries to seek to delay commitments on slashing tariffs in certain sectors.
Malaysia in May requested that tariff cuts for its automotive industry, a major employer at home, be deferred two years until 2005 when it is deemed ready to face foreign competition.
The economic officials failed to reach an agreement on a compensation protocol for countries affected by such delays and left the issue for the ministers to decide.
Delegates warned that any agreement to slow down in certain sectors could precipitate a general slackening on commitments.:
