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| Tuesday, 30 November 2004 |
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ASEAN leaders meet to shore up economic might VIENTIANE, Monday (AFP) The leaders of 10 Southeast Asian nations held summit talks here Monday to speed up economic integration and forge an economic bloc capable of standing up to rising competitors such as India and China. The 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders convened in the Laotian capital for their annual summit with warnings from key member states that the region must take steps to become more competitive. The leaders are expected to discuss trade and investment liberalisation measures to integrate ASEAN by 2020 or earlier and then embrace countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and India. Any delays in integration would make the region less competitive, Philippine presidant Gloria Arroyo said here. ASEAN must become a "formidable" economic bloc that could hold its own in future negotiations with the United States, Europe, Latin America and Africa as well as with other regional organisations, she said. ASEAN's cooperation with countries in the region would promote growth and "provide the competitive environment for the region to remain attractive to trade and investment flows," Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told a business forum here ahead of the summit. The ASEAN leaders will on Tuesday meet with their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea and India for discussions on a web of bilateral free-trade agreements they hope could lead to a broader economic bloc. The three Northeast Asian countries met separately here Monday, with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao calling for increased cooperation. "Cooperation among the three parties has a very large significance for stability and development in Northeast Asia, indeed in the whole of East Asia," Wen said to Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korea's President Roh Moo-Hyun. The leaders of Japan and China are expected to meet separately here on Tuesday amid strained relations, further hurt by a recent Japanese announcement it would reduce its official aid to China. Australia and New Zealand will attend the ASEAN summit for the first time with their leaders hoping to agree at meetings Tuesday to begin talks on a free trade deal. |
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