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THE
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
member states are being urged to accelerate
the creation of common customs procedures
and harmonise its rules to significantly
lift trade within the region of 600 million
people.
According
to Philippines Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima,
Southeast Asia is unlikely to achieve its
aim of integrating its 10 economies by 2015,
but it has the potential to become a trading
hub for Asia if it creates an economic community.
Mr
Purisima said that intra-ASEAN trade has
grown 18 per cent, far outstripping the
growth in global commerce.
Speaking
on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, Mr
Purisima told Reuters in Manila, he thought
that reaching the integration target "is
going to be like a milestone where we should
expect an acceleration of efforts to integrate."
ASEAN,
whose 10 members include Singapore and Myanmar,
aims to eliminate non-tariff barriers and
remove obstacles to labour flows in the
region.
Foreign
direct investment in ASEAN also outpaced
that of China last year, the Financial Secretary
said.
Foreign
investors "are now putting more money
into the 10-member countries. This reflects
the fact that they see, if the integration
becomes a reality, ASEAN can fulfil its
vision of being the hub of intra-Asia trade,"
said Mr Purisima, a certified public accountant.
He
said the Philippines is working on its own
challenges and inefficiencies, including
creating a much-delayed national "single
window" network that when linked with
others in the region will allow faster processing
of trade receipts and reduce smuggling,
which depresses state revenue.
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