KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Southeast Asian countries here on Tuesday agreed to accelerate internal economic integration in order to sustain and boost economic growth in the region and to maximize gains from its economic engagement with major trading partners.
In a joint communique, the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) welcomed the initiative taken by the Economic Ministers to identify and eliminate restrictive practices and non-tariff barriers to allow for unrestricted flow in trade in goods, services and investment to realize the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).
The ASEAN Foreign Ministers are here for the 39th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM)/Post Ministerial Conferences/13th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) which opened in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur Tuesday.
ASEAN attaches great importance on the strengthening of economic linkages with ASEAN Dialogue Partners which aims at enhancing ASEAN's position as a competitive base for international production and foreign direct investment, said the communique.
The foreign ministers of the 10-member regional grouping expressed hope that the ongoing negotiations on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Dialogue Partners would be concluded in a timely manner to the mutual satisfaction of all parties.
Currently, ASEAN Dialogue Partners are Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia, the United States of America and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
ASEAN welcomes the initiative taken to further broaden and enhance economic relations with the European Union and the United States. ASEAN and EU have agreed to undertake domestic consultations before any decision could be made to launch an FTA.
The ASEAN region has a population of about 500 million, a total area of 4.5 million square kilometers, a combined gross domestic product of 737 billion U.S. dollars, and a total trade of 720 billion U.S. dollars.
ASEAN has projected an economic growth of 5.8 percent in 2006 as compared to the 5.5 percent growth in 2005.
ASEAN, established in 1967, now groups Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. Enditem
