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ASEAN Countries Treat Stimulating Domestic Economies as Priority
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Monday discussed a wide-range of issues at their 7th summit as ASEAN now faces its biggest challenge since its founding in 1967 in the current climate of intense global uncertainty, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said at a press conference after the first day's meeting.
"In a shorter term, stimulating our domestic economies is an urgent priority to cushion the impact of reduced external demand and appropriate fiscal and monetary policies are crucial" in a severe world economic slowdown, said Bolkiah who is the summit chairman.
He said the leaders endorsed the Mid-Term Review of the Hanoi Plan of Action, a six-year plan they adopted in 1998, and identified new priorities which include the integration initiative launched last year, information and communications technology along with human capacity building.
Responding to long-term challenge, Bolkiah said ASEAN must improve its credibility as a regional organization and respond decisively to challenges.
Among recent worrying developments are a decline in foreign investment in ASEAN countries and the erosion of their competitiveness resulting from the emergence of new markets, he said, adding these challenges offer a unique opportunity for ASEAN to work even closer together.
"We are determined to strengthen our competitiveness and accelerate regional integration," the summit chairman said.
He said the leaders agreed to go beyond the ASEAN Free Trade Area and the ASEAN Investment Area by deepening market liberalization for both trade and investment and agreed to speed up negotiations on liberalizing intra-ASEAN trade in services and to start negotiations on mutual recognition arrangements for professional services.
The leader agreed on the need for a Roadmap for Integration of ASEAN charting milestones along the way including specific steps and timetables and instructed all ministers and senior officials to start work on the roadmap and submit their final proposals to the summit meeting in Cambodia next year, he said.
Bolkiah said the leaders encouraged the private sector to convene a regular ASEAN Business Summit in conjunction with the summit meeting, starting in Cambodia next year and agreed to set up an ASEAN Business Advisory Council.
He said, "in working even closer together, we agreed to embark on activities for far-reaching economic cooperation in many areas" such as energy, tourism, agriculture and telecommunications.
"Bridging the development gap is crucial for regional integration and part of our confidence-building efforts to help members cope with challenges. Our priorities are developing human resources, infrastructure and information technology, especially with the private sector and our dialogue partners," the chairman said.
He said other efforts to narrow the development gap include an ASEAN Integration System of Preferences for newer members, which will allow Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to gain tariff-free access to the more developed ASEAN markets and the leaders agreed to implement this by the beginning of January next year.
Bolkiah said that Monday afternoon ASEAN leaders also exchanged views with their colleagues from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea to build a closer East Asian partnership.
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