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ASEAN meeting with China, Japan, South Korea termed a "success" |
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May 3, 2000
YANGON, MAY 2 (AP) - Economic ministers from Southeast Asia, China, Japan and South Korea discussed deepening regional cooperation Tuesday, part of a drive for greater East Asia to hold its own on the global trading stage. |
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The gathering follows an informal summit of leaders of the 13 countries in Manila in November. The region is seeking to grow stronger after the Asian economic crisis of 1997 and increase its clout against the U.S.-led North American Free Trade Area and the European Union.
"It was a very good meeting," Brig. Gen. David Abel, minister to Myanmar's ruling military council, told reporters afterward. "All three ministers, Japan, China and Korea, are enthusiastic and cooperative."
Ministers from the three Northeast Asian powerhouses agreed to meet at future Association of Southeast Asian Nations economic ministerial meetings, including a formal gathering in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand in October.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
An Indonesian delegate, speaking on condition of anonymity, said topics raised Tuesday included joint training on information technology and development of the Mekong River region, which includes several Southeast Asian states and China.
The meeting, dubbed a retreat because of its informal nature, is the first comprising exclusively the economic ministers of the 10 members of ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea.
It is also a boost for the prestige of Myanmar's military regime, the biggest diplomatic gathering since the country joined ASEAN in 1997 amid great outcry by the group's Western trading partners over Myanmar's human rights abuses and refusal install a democratic government.
Takashi Fukaya, Japan's international trade and industry minister, met Monday with a senior government leader, Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt.
It was the first visit by a Japanese cabinet minister to Myanmar since the current regime took power after a bloody crackdown on a nationwide uprising for democracy in 1988.
A Japanese spokesman said Fukaya raised Tokyo's desire for democratization, improved respect for human rights, and economic reforms.
The two sides discussed technical assistance projects, mostly in energy. Myanmar has large natural gas resources and untapped hydropower potential.
While Japan voices misgivings about political repression in Myanmar, it takes a softer line than the West that ostracizes the military regime to try and pressure it into political change. ASEAN countries pursue a policy of "constructive engagement" with Yangon.
Emphasizing historical links between people in East Asia, Singapore's trade minister George Yeo said Monday said that the meeting of ASEAN and the three Northeast Asian economic ministers represented an "important beginning" in deepening regional ties.
Developing a system to cooperate and solve problems was the right thing to do "as borders become more porous and people travel more, and globalization integrates all of us into the global economy," Yeo said.
ASEAN ministers have also endorsed proposals to push ahead with linking up their ASEAN Free Trade Area into a wider trade zone with Australia and New Zealand.
While short-term gains from such a tie-up might be minor, ministers said, it could have long-term strategic and political benefits.
Under the ASEAN Free Trade Area, six of the 10 ASEAN members have agreed to cut tariffs on a so-called inclusion list of manufactured and agricultural products to 0 percent to 5 percent by 2002.
In a move seen as clearing a key obstacle to AFTA, ministers agreed on Monday that Malaysia could extend protection of its car industry to 2005.
Malaysia says it needed a delay, saying it needs more time to rehabilitate the industry after being hurt by the Asian economic crisis.
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