ASEAN

ASEAN members have reported completing nearly two-thirds of work to lay down an integrated economic community by 2015 and have tagged streamlining trade processes and opening up the service sector as among the remaining tasks.

HANOI, Vietnam—Street vendor Ta Thi Huong has never heard of the “Asean Community” which Southeast Asian leaders spent two days last week trying to refine.

Flaws in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)’s economic integration plans are being exposed as some members struggle to adapt to a massive free-trade deal with China, and the US and EU opt to pursue pacts with individual states.

The country will be leading the formulation of Southeast Asia’s new medium-term tourism strategic plan, the Department of Tourism said on Monday.

BUTUAN CITY , Philippines  – Claiming that trade policies affect peace and development, New Zea-land Ambassador Andrew Matheson urged ASEAN member-countries, particularly the Philippines, to “give a closer look at the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA).”

When ASEAN first embarked on formal engagement with the European Union 33 years ago, the relationship was typically between developed and developing economies – a carryover from colonial times. The EU represented some of the most advanced countries in the world, while ASEAN comprised struggling developing countries. ASEAN exports were predominantly raw materials, basic manufactured…

MANILA, Philippines – The Development Bank of Singapore said that 2010 is the year that Asia will outperform both Europe and the United States.

MANILA, Philippines – Chief Justice Reynato Puno says distrust of foreigners and differences in approaching human rights prevent the integration of member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the full implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA)- Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme this year will benefit the agriculture sector.

ON JAN. 1, 2010, the China-Asean Free Trade Area (Cafta) went into effect. Touted as the world’s biggest Free Trade Area, CAFTA is billed as having 1.7 million consumers, with a combined gross domestic product of $ 2 trillion and total trade of $ 1.3 trillion.

JAKARTA: Indonesia has asked to rewrite a new regional trade pact with China, citing fears of job losses because of a flood of cheap Chinese imports across various sectors, officials said Wednesday. The government has sought to maintain 228 tariff lines for another two years rather than cut them as required under the Asean-China Free…

I do not know if there were any last minute second thoughts but the schedule for making the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) operational is Jan 1, 2010. I wrote a column last Dec. 14 that pointed out some of the dangers of this arrangement to Asean economies for so long as the Chinese yuan…

MANILA, Philippines – This is a reaction to the news article titled “Free trade bad for Asean, warns solon” last January 5. Aside from this the sectors that the China-Asean Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) will primarily hit will be the millions of farmers and fisher folk in the region. It will also worsen the impact…

FIFTY years ago, this was the time for monetizing the sugar quedans. It was the middle of the milling season and the planters knew, more or less, the total tonnage of the year’s sugar crop. Then, the big planters would go to the usual destination, the car showrooms to order the latest models. Then, to…

Last Aug. 14, 2009, yet another free trade agreement (FTA) that would shape the course of trade in the Philippines, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and India took flight from Bangkok. As with the case of FTAs preceding it, the event took place without much fanfare. ASEAN Trade Ministers signed on to the…

FREE TRADE: There is this old line that if we could convince the Chinese to drink their tea with sugar and if we could get even just one percent of the ensuing sugar needs, we would have to plant half of our arable land with sugarcane to meet the demand but would then be able…

SINGAPORE: The global recovery faces serious pitfalls including mass unemployment in rich nations, asset bubbles, and a lurch toward protectionism, the World Bank chief and Asia-Pacific leaders warned Friday.

WASHINGTON DC, United States—President Barack Obama will put his new doctrine of engaging friends and foes alike into action next week, at the inaugural US summit with Southeast Asian nations, including Myanmar.

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Asian leaders meeting in Thailand are discussing plans to “lead the world” by forming an EU-style community by 2015.

MANILA, Philippines—Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are laying the groundwork for a permanent emergency rice reserve mechanism in anticipation of more calamities hitting the region, Malacañang said Sunday.

HUA HIN, THAILAND—ASIAN leaders barely mentioned Burma’s (Myanmar’s) democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi at a weekend summit, making a mockery of the region’s grand claims for its new rights body, analysts said.

HUA HIN — Asian leaders barely mentioned Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi at a weekend summit, making a mockery of the region’s grand claims for its new rights body, analysts said.

HUA HIN, Thailand: Asian leaders heard competing plans from Australia and Japan for a massive European Union-style bloc covering half the world’s population as they wrapped up their annual summit on Sunday. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd presented his counterparts at the meeting in Thailand with his vision for an Asia-Pacific Community, possibly by 2020,…

HUA HIN, Thailand–Southeast Asian leaders were strongly criticized on Friday after launching a widely derided human rights body and barring activists from a key meeting at a regional summit.

HUA HIN, Thailand: Southeast Asian leaders launched a widely criticized new human rights body on Friday at a regional summit where they will also grapple with plans for economic and political integration.

HUA HIN (AFP)– Southeast Asian leaders are to officially launch a “historic” human rights body on Friday, despite criticisms that it will be too soft on members such as military-ruled Myanmar.

The United Nations urged Asian nations to make their new regional human rights body “credible” Thursday, as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) prepared for its official launch.

BANGKOK — Southeast Asian nations are set to unveil a landmark human rights watchdog this week, but critics charge it will be a toothless body that includes in its membership one of the world’s worst human rights offenders—military-ruled Burma (Myanmar).

WASHINGTON – The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cautioned Asian economies against prematurely withdrawing fiscal stimulus measures, saying the current fragile global recovery may stall.