Step-by-step towards the ASEAN Community in 2015

ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh, representing ASEAN at the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Trade (MRT), held on April 20-21 in Surabaya, Indonesia, affirmed the achievements and determination to continue building on the results achieved in the process of regional connectivity and integration towards building the ASEAN Community by 2015.

ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh. (Photo: VNA)

According to a TTXVN correspondent in Jakarta, speaking at the conference, Secretary-General Le Luong Minh highly appreciated APEC and the Indonesian Government, the host country and APEC Chair in 2013, for creating an opportunity for the ASEAN Secretariat to present its efforts, results, and lessons learned in the process of moving towards the Common House in 2015, especially since the APEC MRT in 2012 in Kazan, Russia.

Secretary-General Le Luong Minh stated that on the occasion of ASEAN's 45th anniversary last year, the Association's leaders once again affirmed their commitment to working towards an ASEAN Community by 2015 and ensuring a constructive regional structure and environment for development. One of ASEAN's most notable achievements in 2012 was the launch of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement between the 10 member states of the bloc and 6 Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners, including Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and China.

Secretary-General Le Luong Minh stated that ASEAN, with its action program "Our People - Our Future," has set and is pursuing priorities such as establishing support mechanisms for ASEAN small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), enhancing ASEAN's competitiveness, encouraging the participation of young entrepreneurs in ASEAN, strengthening relations with dialogue partners, and establishing an ASEAN business network.

Since the 2012 APEC MRT in Kazan, the completion rate of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint has increased from 67.9% to 77.5% currently. ASEAN is intensifying its efforts to implement measures to achieve the objectives set out in the AEC Blueprint, and has now removed 99% of tariffs between ASEAN-6 (including Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore).

ASEAN is also striving to establish a regional certification system by 2015, and in the immediate future, this year, ASEAN will complete negotiations on the 9th Comprehensive Services Commitment, the 6th Comprehensive Financial Services Commitment, and the 8th Comprehensive Air Transport Services Commitment, in order to further promote liberalization in trade and services sectors within the framework of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS).

Secretary-General Le Luong Minh emphasized the significant importance of the ASEAN Agreement on Manpower Mobility (MNP) signed by member countries in November 2012 to further promote the flow of human resources in trade in goods, services, and investment in the region. Related to this field is the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on tourism professionals.

According to Secretary-General Le Luong Minh, with the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) coming into effect last year, ASEAN is now focusing its efforts on effectively implementing the ACIA, especially in terms of liberalization, promotion, facilitation, and protection of investments. ASEAN is also prioritizing narrowing the development gap within and between member states, and strengthening support for the development of the private sector and SMEs.

Referring to the relationship between ASEAN and APEC, Secretary-General Le Luong Minh stated that, given that both sides are facing common regional and global challenges, they need to strengthen cooperation, share experiences, and promote connectivity and integration initiatives; primarily through the two Secretariats' coordinating roles, aiming to achieve the community-building goals of ASEAN and APEC.

According to (VNA) - LT