ASEAN official sees Japan as influential player in pushing Asia FTA+

TOKYO, June 12 Kyodo -
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said he sees Japan as an influential
player in pushing for free trade and economic integration between the regional
grouping and its major trading partners.
In an e-mail interview with Kyodo News earlier this week, Surin, a former Thai
foreign minister, also said the speed of economic tie-up particularly between
Japan, China and South Korea would be a driving force for regional economic
integration.
''With its substantial business interest in the region, it would not be
surprising to see Japan exerting its influence on the direction regional
economic integration is to be pursued,'' he said. ''Most of the economies in
the region are still dependent on Japan not only for trade and investment but
development assistance as well.''
Surin said he believes that fact that the six major members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations have established a tariff-free regime among
themselves has created a ''solid foundation'' for free trade in East Asia.
But Surin cautioned the process of removing all trade barriers within the
region is time-consuming.
''Creating a region-wide FTA (free trade agreement) could still take quite some
time,'' he said. ''Suffice it to say, regional economic integration involving
the ASEAN Plus 6 countries would also be driven by the speed of integration
among the Plus 6 countries, particularly China, Japan and (South) Korea.''
Economically, Surin said he believes free trade in East Asia, which accounts
for half of the world's population, would have a global impact.
''A region-wide FTA would definitely impact the global economy, especially in
terms of inducing economic activities not only within the region but with the
rest of the world as well,'' he said.
The shape of a free-trade regime in East Asia, however, remains divided among
the major regional economic powers, particularly Japan and China.
Japan favors a free-trade regime between ASEAN and its six partner countries,
while China prefers a tighter geographical area, ASEAN plus China, Japan and
South Korea.
For ASEAN, Surin said it is still too early to choose between the two
approaches, arguing that a deciding factor is that the emerging regional
architecture ''would be in the best interest of ASEAN and ASEAN centrality.''
The United States has also shown strong interest in Asia's economic integration.
Asked whether ASEAN would accept U.S. participation, Surin said it is
''critical and important'' to keep the United States engaged in economic
integration activities in the region.
The United States ''has been and would always be an important trading partner
not only for ASEAN and its members states but other countries in the region as
well,'' he said.
==Kyodo
2010-06-12 23:49:48


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