Asean bloc open to new WTO talks, says Purisima

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is willing to go back to the negotiating table and restart the stalled talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO) level.

This was reported yesterday by Trade and Industry Secretary Cesar V. Purisima following his trip to Yogyakarta, Indonesia where he attended the informal ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) meeting.

Purisima said the ASEAN economic ministers were all in agreement that a multilateral trade approach is still the best way to address global trade issues.

Furthermore, Purisima said there were indications from the European Union that it is willing to compromise on certain issues which had led to the collapse of the WTO trade negotiations in Cancun, Mexico last year.

He said EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, who met with the ASEAN economic ministers, pointed out that even the United States has signalled that it wants to return to the negotiating table even though it still does not appear willing to back down on its earlier stance.

Purisima stressed that while the Philippines is in agreement with its ASEAN neighbors, it would continue to push for agricultural trade concessions.

However, the resumption of the talks is still uncertain this year but ASEAN is hoping that this would be concluded by 2005, Purisima said.

Aside from the resumption of the WTO talks, Purisima also reported on the ASEAN’s plan for a single market by 2020.

Purisima said that it was agreed that 11 priority sectors earlier identified for integration would be utilized as a springboard for the creation of a single market.

According to Purisima, "the AEM decided that sector-specific roadmaps would be formulated into legally-binding commitments in the form of appropriate agreements."

The finalized roadmaps would be submitted to ASEAN leaders during the 10th ASEAN Summit in Vietnam, Laos on Nov. 29-30 this year.

However, Purisima said the transformation of these roadmaps into legally binding commitments may require certain policy changes that may be unique to the sector.

The Philippines, being the country coordinator for electronics, may need to set the policy environment to accelerate regional integration in the sector, Purisima said.