With global trade talks stalled, Asian-Pacific nations forged ahead with individual deals opening the flow of goods and services within the economically vibrant region.
Southeast Asian nations reached free-trade deals with India, Australia and New Zealand and aimed to seal an investment pact with China, while economic ministers from 16 regional states agreed to pursue broader free-trade deals that could stretch from India to New Zealand in the coming years.
At the same time, the ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and six other countries vowed Thursday 'to intensify efforts' to get the fractured Doha Round of trade talks at the World Trade Organization back on track.
Asean, Australia and New Zealand completed negotiations for a free-trade agreement covering goods, services, investment and intellectual property. Asean and India finalized a free-trade agreement in goods, seeking to boost their annual trade volume to $50 billion by 2010 from $30 billion.
And the 10-nation bloc agreed with China on the importance of an investment deal by December to complement existing bilateral agreements on trade in goods and services.
Australia, New Zealand and Asean view their trade pact 'as paving the way to enhancing the region's economic integration and acting as an impetus to deepen and broaden trade and investment among the 12 participating countries,' they said in a joint statement.
The agreement is expected to be signed in December after the countries seek domestic approval. It is 'the largest free-trade agreement Australia has ever negotiated,' said the country's trade minister, Simon Crean. He said it is also Asean's most comprehensive deal ever.
Australia's food exporters will get 'significantly improved access to Asean countries under this agreement,' Mr. Crean said. Australia has 'locked in details' on removing tariffs on goods with eight Asean nations, while issues remain with Malaysia and Indonesia over cars, he said.
Trade between Australia and Asean climbed 15% last year to US$42 billion, while the bloc's trade with New Zealand rose 27% to $6 billion, according to Asean.
The India-Asean deal will take effect in January after the agreement becomes official in December, officials said. It includes crude and refined palm oil, coffee, pepper and tea. About 490 products, which account for 5% of total trade value, were excluded from the agreement, the officials said.
A comprehensive bilateral pact including services and investments is expected to be reached next year, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said at a news conference.
In addition to Thursday's deals, Asean and other ministers agreed to pursue broader, regional free-trade agreements, said Tetsuya Watanabe, head of the Asia and Pacific Division at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Looming in the background of the frenetic deal making are the WTO's stalled Doha global trade talks, which broke down in Geneva in July after the U.S., China and India couldn't agree on when developing countries could impose emergency tariffs to protect their agricultural sectors.
The 16 Asia-Pacific ministers 'agreed that all economies must work together to preserve what has been achieved to date, and to show constructive and continued engagement to conclude the round,' they said.
Patricia Kowsmann / P.r. Venkat
|
|
/1 
