ASEAN and
EUROPEAN UNION launch Energy Facility Programme
JAKARTA, 29 June - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) have launched a five-year EC-ASEAN Energy Facility Programme to stimulate and support energy projects and initiatives proposed by the energy industry from the two regions [full text].
SG: ASEAN and China are partners in
competition
Speaking at a forum hosted by ASEAN consulates in Guangzhou on 9 June 2001, ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino said that the dynamic linkages and competition between ASEAN and China produced enormous promise for the peoples and enterprises operating in this region. He stated that as the economies of ASEAN and China got increasingly interlinked, businesses would have an increasingly wide choice of where to set up operations for the ASEAN, the Chinese, and the East Asian marketplace. Severino pointed out that each of ASEAN’s members and China had their own strengths as production platforms. If present trends continue, businesses operating in them will have the entire region for their market, provided the East Asian economies continue to open up and the opportunities they offer are wisely used, he stressed. [full text]
ASEAN anticipates drier season
The ASEAN Environment Ministers expressed concern at their meeting on 15 May 2001 over the prediction by the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre that there was a 75 percent chance of a drier than normal conditions during the second half of 2001, and consequentially the potential for spells of smoke haze episodes during that period. The Ministers resolved to promote regional preparedness to prevent this potential problem. They agreed to develop and implement fire suppression mobilisation plans, monitor land and forest fires and transboundary haze, adopt preventive measures to promote the zero-burning policy and strengthen law enforcement efforts. [full text]ASEAN Cooperation in Labour Affairs in the 21st Century
ASEAN Labour Ministers met for the first time with their counterparts from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea on the occasion of the Fifteenth ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting (ALMM) convened in Kuala Lumpur from 10 to 11 May 2001. The ASEAN Labour Ministers Work Programme was discussed to identify possible areas for cooperation. ASEAN proposed to undertake technical cooperation with China, Japan and ROK to promote human resource development in its newer members, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Regarding developments in Myanmar, the ASEAN Labour Ministers noted that the Myanmar government had taken legislative, executive and administrative actions to prohibit forced labour. In particular, the Ministers noted that Myanmar Ministry of Home Affairs had made requisition of forced labour illegal and punishable by law and that a National Level Implementation Committee for Forced Labour Convention No. 29 had been established to ensure that instances of forced labour in the country could be effectively addressed. ASEAN Labour Ministers have called upon the ILO to recognize these initiatives by the Myanmar Government to stop all forms of forced labour and urged the ILO to support the Myanmar Government’s measures to meet its obligations and responsibilities under Convention 29 and to refrain from further action under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution. ASEAN Labour Ministers and delegations to the 89th ILC will also explain the latest initiatives by the Myanmar Government in seeking ILO’s understanding and support of these initiatives. [full text]
ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers review cooperation
Finance Ministers of ASEAN, China, Japan and Korea met in Honolulu on 9 May 2001 to review progress of cooperation in developing regional self-help and support mechanisms, monitoring of short-term capital flows and in reforming the international financial architecture. On the network of bilateral swap arrangements (BSA) and repurchase agreements, substantial progress have been reached between Korea and Japan, Malaysia and Japan, and Thailand and Japan. [full text]
ASEAN+3 economic cooperation advances
The Third Meeting of the ASEAN Economic Ministers and Ministers of the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea was held in Siemreap, Cambodia on 4 May 2001. The Ministers exchanged views on international economic issues such as APEC and the WTO, and endorsed six projects in IT, environment, SMEs, Mekong Basin development and standards and conformity assessment. Bilateral trade between ASEAN and the three Northeast Asian countries grew by 38.2% between the first half of 1999 to the first half of 2000. The volume of trade grew from US $ 66.5 billion in Jan-June 1999 to US $ 91.9 during the same period in 2000. [full text]ASEAN to negotiate BSA with China, Japan and the ROK
The ASEAN Finance Ministers, at their annual meeting held in Kuala Lumpur on 7-8 April 2001, agreed to develop a network of bilateral swap arrangements (BSA) and repurchase agreements with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea to complement and supplement the IMF role in providing liquidity support in the event of temporary balance of payments difficulties. Within ASEAN itself, a swap arrangement has been enlarged to include all ten Southeast Asian countries and its size increased to US$1 billion. [full text]
US and ASEAN to cooperate on Trade-Related Standards and Conformance Issues
Jakarta, Apr. 6 - ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo C. Severino Jr. yesterday signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on Trade-Related Standards and Conformance Issues with the United States Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Donald L. Evans. [full text]
ASEAN and China establish economic experts group
ASEAN and China have established an experts group on economic cooperation as earlier proposed by Premier Zhu Rong Ji at the ASEAN-China Summit on 25 November 2000.The Experts Group on Economic Cooperation will look into the implications of China’s accession to the WTO and recommend measures how to further enhance ASEAN-China economic cooperation and integration, including the possibility of establishing a free trade area between ASEAN and China. [full text]
ASEAN to hold AFTA workshops
Jakarta, 19 March - A series of workshops on tariff reduction scheme for the ASEAN Free Trade Area will be launched on 21 March 2001 at Hotel Indonesia in Jakarta. The workshops form part of the efforts to inform the business community of the progress of implementation of AFTA’s Common Preferential Tariff Scheme. ASEAN expects to accomplish the establishment of AFTA on schedule. By January next year, all products in the Inclusion List of the first six signatories to the scheme - Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand - will have tariffs of no more than 5 percent. [full text]
ASEAN and EU toward the same direction – SG
ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino said that, “ASEAN will never be like the EU, but within the parameters of the realities of the region, the circumstances of the association’s origins, its present condition, and its likely situation in the future, it will be doing more and more of the things that the EU has done to promote peace, economic integration and growth, social development, and general human welfare – in different ways, at a different pace, but in the same general direction.”Secretary-General Severino made this remarks in his speech at the European Policy Center on 23 March 2001. [full text]
ASEAN launches Visit ASEAN Campaign
Determined to maintain Southeast Asia’s edge as a major tourism destination, ASEAN launched on 13 January 2001 in Brunei Darussalam a series of promotional activities under the banner of “Visit ASEAN Campaign.” The campaign will promote the ten countries of Southeast Asia as a single tourism destination. To kick off the campaign, an ASEAN tourism forum was held from 10 to 16 January 2001 in Bandar Seri Begawan participated in by the private sector in tourism industry. Following the launch of the VAC, several activities to build awareness amongst the travel trade will be held at ITB, WTM and JATA. The second phase will aim at consumers to be promoted by tourism agencies, airlines and the travel industry. ASEAN is implementing an action plan to facilitate intra-ASEAN travels and tourism. More information on the tourism campaign can be seen at the Internet website http://www.asean-tourism.com/. [full text]
SG calls for closer ASEAN-India cooperation on IT
Speaking before the Confederation of Indian Industry in Andhra Pradesh Thursday, ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino,suggested that ASEAN and India work together in evaluating their state of readiness for the digital age and in identifying areas for common action. Severino also proposed that ASEAN and India cooperate in training people, undertake consultations on the use of IT for education, health care, employment, small and medium enterprises and rural development, and set up channels for the regular exchange of experience and information on IT developments. [full text]
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