According to TT on August 26, at the end of the meeting between economic ministers of countries which took part in the 39th ASEAN Economic Minister Meeting at Manila- the capital of Philippines, ASEAN General Secretary- Keng Yong stated that ASEAN could finish Free Trade Area (FTA) with Korea, China, India and Japan in 2008, 2010, and 2011 respectively. Those with Australia and New Zealand were specifically expected to finish before 2012. He said that ASEAN intended to complete FTA with these six large partners in 2013 and it would be an important improvement in establishing ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. He, however, also admitted that there have been many difficulties relating to bilateral trade. For example, matters relating to trading goods and services with Korea have not been solved yet and so on.
04/09/2007