ASEM
& ASEAN
Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
Participating
members: 15 EU Member States, European Commission, Japan,
China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand,
Vietnam and the Philippines (total 26)
The ASEM process includes a number of important elements
for facilitating and promoting two-way trade, including
investment flows between Europe and Asia and for encouraging
co-operation between economies in the two regions. This
includes meetings of trade (economic) Ministers, trade officials
and International experts, as well as the Asia-Europe Business
Forum to engage senior business people and Small-Medium
Enterprises (SME’s).
ASIA-Europe Business Forum (AEBF)
AEBF
is the primary vehicle to engage senior business people
in the ASEM process. Held annually since ASEM began in 1996,
the next AEBF will take place in October 2004 in Hanoi,
Vietnam. Participants will join "core" working
groups of interest to all ASEM member countries, covering
trade; investment and infrastructure; SMEs; financial
services; information and telecommunications; tourism and
food. Each AEBF session reports to the next ASEM summit
and follow-up is made into the next AEBF.
Further
information available at http://www.aebf9.org
The Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP)
Adopted
by the leaders at the second ASEM summit in London in 1998,
TFAP is designed to identify and remove existing non-tariff
barriers to the two-way flow of trade between the two regions
by improving transparency, promoting deregulation, reducing
transaction costs and promoting trade opportunities. Coverage
includes customs;standards;SPS;electronic commerce; intellectual
property rights and distribution. Investment Promotion Action Plan (IPAP)
Formulated
by a joint government/private sector-working group on export
promotion, IPAP aims to generate greater two-way investment
flows between the two regions and enhance the investment
climate. It includes an Investment Experts Group (IEG),
which meets annually to discuss investment issues of concern
to ASEM members, including liberalisation, privatisation
and work on other fora such as WTO.. An important IPAP initiative
at present is an Asia-Europe examination of barriers to
investment and of members’ initiatives to promote and attract
investment. The UK has played an important role in IPAP
and all its activities throughout.
An
Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN)
ASEAN
was formed in 1967 and currently consists of Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam,
Burma/Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. The ASEAN secretariat
is based in Jakarta, Indonesia
From the Economic point of view, ASEAN is notable for two
main things; Their formation as a powerful block in the
WTO and their economic co-operation commitments which include
the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the ASEAN Investment
Area (AIA)
AFTA
was adopted in 1992 and has been the driving force for trade
liberalisation. Its purpose is to gradually establish an
integrated market with low tariffs ranging from 0-5% and
without non-tariff barriers by 2002 for the majority of
ASEAN, with 2003 for Vietnam and 2005 for Laos, Myanmar
and Cambodia.
Many
other economic co-operation schemes, such as the ASEAN Investment
Area (AIA) and ASEAN Industrial Co-operation Scheme (AICO)
help enhance the flows of investment into the region. AIA
is designed to bind member countries to eliminate obstacles
to investment, liberalise investment rules and policies
and open up industries to foreign investment. AICO is a
scheme of ASEAN to promote joint manufacturing industrial
activities between ASEAN-based companies.
EU
Relations with ASEAN
EU
relations with ASEAN are based on the 1980 Co-operation
Agreement. The EU represents ASEAN’s 3rd largest
trading partner, providing its second largest export market
after the US and just ahead of Japan. For the EU, ASEAN
is its 4th largest trading partner, in front
of China. With its growing export-led economies and a developing
domestic market of more than 500 million people, ASEAN is
a region of increasing economic and strategic importance,
whose current and longer term potential continues to attract
strong commercial interest from EU industry. As ASEAN forges
closer alliances with important trading partners, the EU
wishes to ensure its appropriate place amongst them and
deepen economic ties with the
Contact:
Ian Broadhurst
Tel: 020 7215 5772
Fax: 020 7215 2235
Email: ian.broadhurst@dti.gsi.gov.uk
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