Southeast Asia and Europe pledged on Friday to speed up work on a hard-won free trade agreement, pledging support for open markets within the face of growing U.S. protectionism under Donald Trump.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said the deal would “send a strong signal to the world” after Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium sparked outrage amongst US trading partners, including Europe, AFP reported.
The 28-member European Union and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations have been in talks for years on a free trade agreement, first launched in 2007 but abandoned two years later.
Both sides agreed last yr to place the deal back on the agenda and worked out their positions before the method formally began.
“These agreements are necessary in their very own right, but also they are a part of an even bigger picture. We see them as constructing blocks on the trail to broader integration,” EU Trade Commissioner Malmstrom told a forum of business executives from Southeast Asia and Europe in Singapore, as quoted byFinancial Tribune.
Cambodian Trade Minister Mr Sorasak told the forum that an EU-ASEAN trade deal could be “more beneficial for all of us, especially Cambodia. “I believe that the (free trade agreement) negotiations should be resumed as soon as possible.”
Singapore, which chairs the regional group this yr, wants to advertise innovation, improve digital connectivity and facilitate e-commerce flows within the region.
The programme also goals to enhance trade, deepen the mixing of services and investment, and create a regulatory environment conducive to trade and investment.
There are also plans to deepen ASEAN’s ties with external partners.
Strait Times According to a 2016 study by Google and Temasek Holdings, ASEAN’s digital economy is estimated to grow to US$200 billion ($265 billion) by 2025, with e-commerce valued at about US$88 billion.
