ASEAN-EU OFFICIALS, BUSINESS REP MEET IN SIEM REAP TO DISCUSS FTA CHALLENGES

Bernama Media


SINGAPORE, Jan 16 (Bernama) -- Officials and business representatives from

the 10 Asean Member States and the European Union came together today in Siem

Reap, Cambodia, to discuss the challenges and opportunities of free trade

agreements, as well as ways that Asean would benefit from free trade agreements.

Organised by the EU-Asean''s "Enhancing Asean FTA Negotiation Capacity

Programme", the event focuses on Asean and the European Union (EU) trade

policies, as well as on new and emerging trade issues.

The event also includes a stakeholders dialogue, designed to enable

participants to share their knowledge and experience related to key issues such

as the political economy of free trade agreements, the challenges of trade

agreement implementation and post-trade agreement adjustment.

Director General of Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia and as Asean SEOM

Chairman, Pich Rithi, has expressed his deep appreciation to the EU for

providing technical assistance on the Enhancing Asean FTA Negotiating Capacity

Programme to government and private sector representatives of the Asean Member

States and Asean Secretariat officials.

"With a series of 10 workshops all over Asean, starting here today in Siem

Reap, the EU-Asean cooperation will provide a forum for Asean trade

practitioners and officials to reflect on trade issues, which really matter.

"We expect a meaningful contribution to enhance mutual understanding on

trade matters and the negotiation processes, because trade is such an important

affair," he said in a statement released by the EU delegation here.

Rithi said free trade was not only essential for economic development and

growth in support of competitiveness, consumer welfare and poverty reduction, it

brought together people and ideas.

Meanwhile, Head of Economic and Regional Cooperation of the Delegation of

the European Union to Asean, Andreas Roettger, said: "Asean and the EU are

already keen and important trading partners – the EU being the largest export

market for Asean."

He said both regional blocks could only benefit if this partnership

prospered further.

During the event, participants will also engage in negotiation simulation

exercises that focus on trade negotiating techniques, methodologies and tools.

The four-day event coincides with Cambodia’s hosting of the Asean Senior

Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) in Siem Reap beginning tomorrow till Jan 19.

The "Enhancing ASEAN FTA Negotiating Capacity Programme" is a 2.5 million

euros technical cooperation programme funded by the EU for the benefit of

ASEAN’s Member States.

It supports Asean economic integration and facilitates Asean’s preparedness

for participating in FTA negotiations.

The programme is designed to provide high-quality training, cutting-edge

research and analysis, and bilateral FTA negotiations simulations for government

and private sector representatives of the Asean Member States and Asean

Secretariat officials.

It covers a broad range of trade and investment issues and addresses

traditional and non-traditional issues and newer 21st century challenges.

In addition, the "Enhancing ASEAN FTA Negotiating Capacity Programme" will

conduct awareness-raising seminars on a wide range of international trade,

investment, globalisation and related political economy and socio-economic

issues, which will be opened to the public, private and civil society sectors.

Issues were chosen to reflect the interests and needs of the ASEAN Member

States.

ASEAN as a whole represents the EU''s 3rd largest trading partner outside

Europe (after the US and China) with more than 175 billion euros of trade in

goods and services in 2010 (according to ASEANstats data).

The EU represents ASEAN''s largest export partner with exports with more than

90 billion euros in 2011 and ensuring an annual trade surplus to ASEAN of nearly

25 billion euros.

EU and Asean started regional negotiations in 2007 which were also designed

to contribute to Asean''s process of regional integration.

Although these negotiations are currently suspended and the process is

following a bilateral track, the EU still believes that a region-to-region free

trade agreement between both regions makes political and economic sense in the

long term and the strategic objective of concluding an agreement with the Asean

as a region is retained.

-- BERNAMA

TNS JR