A series of consultations took place in the central coastal city of DaNang on August 26 within the framework of the 42nd ASEAN EconomicMinisters’ Meeting (AEM-42), the fourth ASEAN Economic Council Meetingand related meetings.
At the ninth consultationsbetween the AEM and the Chinese Minister of Commerce (AEM-MOFCOM), theministers welcomed the completion of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area(ACFTA) in Jan. 1, 2010, with the abolishment of tariffs on 97 percentof the goods in the common list among six ASEAN nations, includingBrunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand,(ASEAN-6) and China. More than 89 percent of current products are beingfreely traded among ASEAN-6 and China . Other remaining parties ofACFTA are implementing their pledges to reduce tariffs as scheduled inthe ASEAN-China Agreement on Trade in Goods (TIG).
The conference also recognised the results of the forum on China-ASEANFree Trade Area that was held in Nanning , China , on Jan. 7 and 8this year to celebrate ACFTA implementation.
Theministers reached consensus on consolidating the implementation of theTIG Agreement and approved concrete rules of origin that have beentransposed to HS2007 in ACFTA to be supplemented to the TIG Agreement.
They emphasised the importance of implementing theregulation to grant amended certificate of origin and said they hopedfor the early signing of the second protocol on amending the TIGAgreement of the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive EconomicCooperation between ASEAN and China .
Theministers hailed China ’s proposal to organise a seminar oncross-border trade payment in Chinese yuan to facilitate ASEAN-Chinatrade and economic cooperation.
They welcomed theprogress of the feasibility study of the expanded Tonkin Gulfeconomic cooperation and said they hoped the study would be finalised assoon as possible.
At the 16 th consultationsbetween the AEM and the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade andIndustry, they expressed their pleasure that the flow of foreigninvestment capital from Japan into ASEAN increased from 4.7 billionUSD in 2008 to 5.3 billion USD in 2009.
Japan ’s investment made up 13.4 percent of ASEAN’s total investment in 2009, they said.
They recognised the results of the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive EconomicPartnership Agreement, the ASEAN-Japan Economic Cooperation, theIntelligent Community Initiative, the Asian sustainable chemical safetyplan, the Asian knowledge economy initiative, the future prospect of theJapan-ASEAN economic cooperation and the ASEAN-Japan Industrial andEconomic Cooperation Committee.
At the secondMekong-Japan industrial economic ministerial conference, the ministerswelcomed business proposals to the Mekong-Japan industrial and economiccooperation that were presented on August 25, 2010 at the dialogue forumfor Mekong and Japanese businesses and government.
They discussed and approved an action plan to implement theMekong-Japan Industrial and Economic cooperation initiative to bereported to leaders of the fourth Mekong-Japan Summit slated for October2010 in Hanoi .
Other events include theMekong-Japan consultations, the AEM+3 consultations, the AEM+3consultations with the East Asia Business Council (EABC), the AEM-RoKconsultations and the AEM-CER (Closer Economic Relations countries ofAustralia and New Zealand ) consultations./.
At the ninth consultationsbetween the AEM and the Chinese Minister of Commerce (AEM-MOFCOM), theministers welcomed the completion of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area(ACFTA) in Jan. 1, 2010, with the abolishment of tariffs on 97 percentof the goods in the common list among six ASEAN nations, includingBrunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand,(ASEAN-6) and China. More than 89 percent of current products are beingfreely traded among ASEAN-6 and China . Other remaining parties ofACFTA are implementing their pledges to reduce tariffs as scheduled inthe ASEAN-China Agreement on Trade in Goods (TIG).
The conference also recognised the results of the forum on China-ASEANFree Trade Area that was held in Nanning , China , on Jan. 7 and 8this year to celebrate ACFTA implementation.
Theministers reached consensus on consolidating the implementation of theTIG Agreement and approved concrete rules of origin that have beentransposed to HS2007 in ACFTA to be supplemented to the TIG Agreement.
They emphasised the importance of implementing theregulation to grant amended certificate of origin and said they hopedfor the early signing of the second protocol on amending the TIGAgreement of the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive EconomicCooperation between ASEAN and China .
Theministers hailed China ’s proposal to organise a seminar oncross-border trade payment in Chinese yuan to facilitate ASEAN-Chinatrade and economic cooperation.
They welcomed theprogress of the feasibility study of the expanded Tonkin Gulfeconomic cooperation and said they hoped the study would be finalised assoon as possible.
At the 16 th consultationsbetween the AEM and the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade andIndustry, they expressed their pleasure that the flow of foreigninvestment capital from Japan into ASEAN increased from 4.7 billionUSD in 2008 to 5.3 billion USD in 2009.
Japan ’s investment made up 13.4 percent of ASEAN’s total investment in 2009, they said.
They recognised the results of the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive EconomicPartnership Agreement, the ASEAN-Japan Economic Cooperation, theIntelligent Community Initiative, the Asian sustainable chemical safetyplan, the Asian knowledge economy initiative, the future prospect of theJapan-ASEAN economic cooperation and the ASEAN-Japan Industrial andEconomic Cooperation Committee.
At the secondMekong-Japan industrial economic ministerial conference, the ministerswelcomed business proposals to the Mekong-Japan industrial and economiccooperation that were presented on August 25, 2010 at the dialogue forumfor Mekong and Japanese businesses and government.
They discussed and approved an action plan to implement theMekong-Japan Industrial and Economic cooperation initiative to bereported to leaders of the fourth Mekong-Japan Summit slated for October2010 in Hanoi .
Other events include theMekong-Japan consultations, the AEM+3 consultations, the AEM+3consultations with the East Asia Business Council (EABC), the AEM-RoKconsultations and the AEM-CER (Closer Economic Relations countries ofAustralia and New Zealand ) consultations./.
