Summit can help US-Asean FTA
Today (Singapore) | Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Summit can help US-Asean FTA
But FTA accord could hinge on resolution of crisis in Myanmar
Nazry Bahrawi
THERE’S still a long way to go before Asean and the United States can ink a free trade agreement (FTA), but trade representatives from both sides are hoping that next month’s Asean Summit will enable them to move the process forward.
Asean trade ministers will hold talks on the proposed FTA with US Trade Representative Susan Schwab at the sidelines of the summit, which will be held from Nov 18 to Nov 22 in Singapore.
The ministers will also discuss how they can produce tangible results from the existing Asean-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (Tifa), which was signed in Kuala Lumpur last year.
This will "inject life into the Tifa", according to Professor Tommy Koh, chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), yesterday while closing the Asean-US symposium.
One possibility, said Prof Koh, is the creation of a single-window system, where regulatory documents such as customs declarations and certificates of origin are standardised and submitted to a single entity or location.
Another is the establishment of a ministerial council on trade matters.
These were among the ideas that had been floated by Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu during a luncheon talk at the symposium on Monday.
Given that Tifa is a "loose non-binding document", Dr Dennis Hew of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas) hailed the moves as a step in the right direction.
But on an Asean-US FTA, Dr Hew was more cautious. "Without a clear resolution to the crisis in Myanmar, I don’t see a possible Asean-US FTA being realised in the near future," he said.
Beyond tangible economic cooperation with the US, Prof Koh said he had also offered the American delegates - who he described as "third-generation US strategic thinkers" - some suggestions on strengthening future Asean-US relations.
Prof Koh added that given Asean’s neutral standing, the grouping could help serve US strategic interests in the region because it could "socialise" with regional superpowers, India, China and Japan.
It is also important for the US to continue engaging the 10-member body - over half of whose population are Muslims - in the wider context of "the struggle for the soul of Islam".
Prof Koh went on to describe the Muslims in the region as among the most cosmopolitan in the world today.
He said: "If you want to win this struggle and help encourage the so-called moderates win this struggle ... you can help Asean’s secular leaders to succeed."
