Germany boosts Asean trade by 13% to 15-B euros

German companies have made good business in the Asia-Pacific region as total trade with Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries grew 13 percent in the first half of 2006 to 15 billion euros, according to the Philippine Embassy in Germany.

With ASEAN remaining a good investment site, Philippine Consul General to Hamburg Armando Fernandez Jr. said in his report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that the foreign ministers from the regional bloc will visit Nuremburg in Germany in March for the ASEAN-EU Foreign Ministers Meeting.

Fernandez said that most ASEAN Foreign Ministers would be meeting their EU counterparts to discuss how to move the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process forward.

He reported the success of the embassy’s presentation of the "Philippine Perspective of ASEAN Advantage" at the Overseas Club in Hamburg last Jan. 17 attended by an audience composed of business leaders from northern Germany and officers from non-governmental organization and industry groups.

The program was organized by Michael Behrendt, chairman of the executive board of Hapag Lloyd, and Burghard V. Cramm, incumbent manager of the club, in coordination with the Philippine Consulate General in Hamburg and the Philippine Embassy in Berlin.

Hapag Lloyd has a prominent presence in the Philippines and was a recipient of the Second International Maritime Awards (SIMA) held in Manila in 2005.

Aside from discussing the organization’s achievements and the future celebration of its 40th year since the ASEAN Bangkok Declaration of 1967 and the 30 years of ASEAN-EU relations, the embassy reported the activities undertaken by the ASEAN as supported by the three major pillars, namely, the ASEAN Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

Also discussed during the meeting was the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to promote confidence-building as well as preventive diplomacy measures.

The ASEAN hopes to turn the diversity of the region into opportunities for business complementation and a strong dynamic segment of the global supply chain through ASEAN integration; the envisioned realization of the ASEAN Free Trade Area in 2015 to promote the region’s competitive advantage as a single production unit with the process of eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers; and the attainment of the ASEAN Vision 2020, as a community of caring societies founded on a common regional identity.

The embassy expressed confidence that Germany will optimize the potential of ASEAN’s advantages with their continued presence in the region that is portrayed as an ‘association of energetic and ambitious nations with 40 years of experience as a regional group."