Singaporean Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing (Photo: AFP/VNA)Singapore (VNA) – The Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN) and its Northeast Asian partners - China, Japan and theRepublic of Korea (RoK) - have reaffirmed commitments to promoting cooperationand economic integration to build a free and open East Asia region amid growingprotectionism.
In his opening remarks at the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM)Plus Three Consultations in Singapore on August 30, Singaporean Minister ofTrade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said ASEAN remains determined in pursuingstronger economic cooperation with China, Japan and the RoK in the face ofgrowing tensions in the global economy.
The ongoing trade tensions among major economies, as well as theadvent of new technologies and the digital economy, have made it critical for ASEANand the three nations to stay committed to deepening and broadening economiclinkages, he said.
ASEAN has free trade deals with each of these three countries,who are also signatories of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP), a trade pact that also involves Australia, New Zealand and India.
ASEAN looks forward to working constructively and pragmaticallywith China, Japan and the RoK to deliver good outcomes for the RCEP negotiationsby the end of this year, Chan said.
At the consultations, ministers discussed new areas ofcollaboration and the ASEAN Plus Three Economic Cooperation Work Programme for2019-2020, which will guide cooperation over the next two years.
Despite uncertainties in the global economy such as trade war orgrowing protectionism, trade and investment ties between ASEAN and the threecountries have increased remarkably.
Last year, total trade between ASEAN and the three countriesincreased by 16.1 percent to 807 billion USD, representing 31.6 percent of thebloc’s total trade value.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows from China, Japan and theRoK into ASEAN reached 29.9 billion USD last year, accounting for 21.8 percentof total FDI inflows into the region.-VNA
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