Thai scholar:Re-election of Obama is upswing for ASEAN trade

BANGKOK, November 1 (TNA) - A Thai academic says it should be an upswing for intra-regional trade in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) if incumbent US President Barack Obama won a re-election later this month. The Thai scholar, Dr. Prapat Thepchatree of Thammasat University’s ASEAN Studies Centre, assessed on Thursday if Obama won the upcoming US presidential election for his second four-year term, he would go ahead with his liberal trade plans, which could bring about an upswing trade in East Asia, covering ASEAN. The academic added that a second term for Obama would also allow the continuation of multilateral trade agreements which have been underway, including the expanding Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP, which emphasizes on liberalising the Asian-Pacific economies, as well as those of ASEAN and the 10-member bloc's key dialogue partners, including Japan, South Korea and China. The new US president election day was set on November 6, 2012, with several polls showing that Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, running neck-to-neck. President Obama, meanwhile, was scheduled to resume his election campaign on early Thursday (US time) in the aftermath of super-storm Sandy, which has left at least 64 people dead and wreaked havoc across the eastern US seaboard. But Romney has stood firm in his October 23-third presidential debate on prioritizing America’s foreign policy in the Middle East, suggesting that he could be inheriting the legacy of US former Republican president George W. Bush. Romney has also announced that he wants to temper any unfair advantages China has in trade with the United States, appearing to have raised qualms in US relations with China, where there will also be leadership changes next year. (TNA)