Press Release

 ASEAN LAUNCHES CEPT OUTREACH PROGRAM

Another round of National Level Workshops on the CEPT Scheme (CEPT Outreach Program) will be held in a number of business centers in ASEAN beginning this month. The first workshop will be held in Cebu, Philippines, on 9 July 2001.  These workshops are sponsored by the ASEAN Japan Center, Tokyo, in cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat and the National AFTA Units of the host countries.

The objective of the workshops is to publicize the CEPT Scheme for the ASEAN Free Trade Area to the business community so that they may be able to fully enjoy the benefits from the Scheme. In turn, it is expected that intra-ASEAN trade of products produced or manufactured in ASEAN will be increased and investment into ASEAN will be promoted.

In 1993, when the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme for AFTA was launched, the average import tariff of products in the Inclusion List under the CEPT Scheme was 12.76%. This average tariff on intra-ASEAN trade was reduced to 3.64% last year for the six initial members – Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand - to the CEPT Agreement. Last year, each of the six initial members had the tariffs on 85% of products in their Inclusion List reduced to 0-5%. This year, the percentage would be increased to 90%. By 1 January 2002, all products (although with some flexibility) in the Inclusion List will have their tariffs reduced to 0-5% essentially completing the realization of AFTA for the first six members. Although intra-ASEAN exports grew as a result of the tariff reductions by an average of 10.68% per annum during 1993-1999 to reach US $ 74.4 billion in 1999, it is still necessary that the private sector be informed of the important milestones that have been reached. Hence the need for the series of national workshops.

This workshop in Cebu is the first of five similar workshops to be held this round. The succeeding workshops will be held in Surabaya – Indonesia on 12 July 2001; Bandar Seri Begawan – Brunei Darussalam on 23 July 2001; Bangkok - Thailand on 26 July 2001; Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 7 August 2001; and Hanoi - Vietnam on 10 August 2001. Registration can be made directly to the National AFTA Unit of the member country concerned using the attached addresses

Dr. Robert R. Teh Jr., Director of Economic Cooperation of the ASEAN Secretariat, will present a regional overview of the progress in the implementation of the CEPT Scheme for AFTA. Ms. Anna Maria Rosario D. Robeniol from the Department of Trade and Industry, Philippines, will present the Philippines’ CEPT program touching on the progress made so far and the benefits that have accrued to the Philippines’ private sector. A number of other presentations will be made by official(s) from the Philippine Bureau of Customs providing details on the National Certification Procedures for the issuance of Form D and the customs procedures and controls in handling goods under the CEPT Scheme. A representative from the private sector who has benefited from the CEPT Scheme and has considerable experience with it will also present his experiences. The expected participants are executives from the Philippines manufacturing and trading companies as well as Japanese multinational companies operating in the Philippines.

The first round of National Level Workshops on the CEPT Scheme was successfully held in Jakarta – Indonesia on 21 March 2001, Manila – Philippines on 26 March 2001, Ho Chi Minh City – Viet Nam on 30 March 2001, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia on 4 April 2001 and Singapore on 6 April 2001.  A large number of local and Japanese companies, media representatives and government officials were on hand to attend and learn from the workshops (see Table 1).  
 

For more enquiries on this workshop in Cebu, please contact: Department of Trade and Industry 3/F DTI Building, 351 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City, Philippines.  The contact numbers are: Tel: (632) 897 8290 and Fax: (632) 890 4812.

July 2001

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