By DPA
Singapore : Leaders of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) Tuesday adopted a blueprint aiming to transform the region of 570 million people into a European Union-style economic community by 2015.
They vowed to “abide by and implement” the Asean Economic Community Blueprint that would eliminate trade barriers for the flow of goods, services and people within the 10-member regional bloc.
“A single market for goods and services will facilitate the development of production networks in the region,” they said in a declaration, adding it will “enhance Asean’s capacity to serve as a global production centre or as a part of the global supply chain”.
The leaders were meeting in Singapore, where they also signed a landmark charter that commits Asean to upholding democracy and human rights but lacks any enforcement and compliance mechanisms.
Observers noted that the economic blueprint would be difficult to implement for all Asean members considering the diverse levels of development.
“It’s a little bit too ambitious,” said Chris Roberts of Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “Given the gap in economic development, it’s a little too much to hope for an integrated economic community in say seven years.”
But analysts stressed that it was an important step for Asean to commit to a roadmap.
“The Asean economic blueprint has more measures that will have an impact on the next 10-15 years than the Asean charter because economically, the region has to be more integrated in order to be able to compete with China as well as India, and to stay relevant,” said Tobias Rettig, a political professor at the Singapore Management University.
Under the blueprint, restrictions on trade in services for such industries as air transport, health care and tourism among Asean will be substantially removed by 2010. Trade barriers in logistics services are scheduled to be removed by 2013, while all other industries will be liberalised by 2015.
Asean will also relax restrictions on capital flows.
“A free and open investment regime is key to enhancing Asean’s competitiveness in attracting foreign direct investment as well as intra-Asean investment,” the roadmap said. “Sustained inflow of new investments and reinvestments will promote and ensure development of Asean economies.”
The blueprint also stressed the need for greater cooperation in developing land, sea and air transport links within Asean — which consists of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.
“An efficient, secure and integrated transport network in Asean is vital for realising the full potential of the Asean free trade area,” it said.