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ASEAN Hopes for East Asia Summit Deal in a Decade

The Association of Southeast Asia Nations, or ASEAN, Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said this week that a free trade agreement between the 10-nation ASEAN and the East Asia Summit might be ready for drafting and signing within the next 10 years. If signed, the free trade pact will affect at least half of the world`s population. Ong said, "It can be done. All you need is to get all the governments to sign on a piece of paper." He also brushed aside criticisms that the 10-year target was to ambitious.

The East Asia Summit is comprised of the ASEAN along with regional powers such as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand. The grouping held its first summit in December last year. Ong said a free-trade deal between the ASEAN and East Asia Summit members were progressing smoothly but each member-countries still need more time to prepare its citizens on its effect on their lives. However, critics say that the reality is a bit more complicated and an agreement might not be possible as soon as Ong says.

In any case, ASEAN is optimistic. "The trade among ASEAN and the countries from North and East Asia is really very substantial so it makes sense to liberalize trade and from there further liberalize investment," Ong said. "We have to prepare our citizens and our industry... on paper we can do things in a few years but practically we have to prepare our ground. As for Australia and New Zealand they are developed economies. Their exports here are things that we don`t produce in large quantities such as cheese and milk. They also import a lot of goods from this region."