EU calls for speedier FTA talks with ASEAN countries

(KUALA LUMPUR) - The European Union is calling on Southeast Asia to speed up trade negotiations between the two blocs to minimise the impact of the global financial crisis.

EU ambassador Vincent Picket said the two zones have made little progress since deciding to enter into free trade agreement (FTA) talks 18 months ago, Bernama news agency reported.

"The economic crisis gives our negotiations a new urgency. We have to go faster to make sure the FTA gives the stimulus that our economies need," Picket said.

An FTA is a contractual agreement between two or more parties under which they give each other preferential market access.

Picket said that according to estimates a comprehensive FTA would boost exports from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the EU by 18 percent.

In August ASEAN secretary general Surin Pitsuwan said the FTA between the bloc and the EU was one of the most challenging to negotiate due to the complexity of the talks.

Surin did not elaborate on the difficulties but diplomats who asked not to be named have said the fact that military-ruled Myanmar is a member of ASEAN could complicate negotiations.

Western countries including EU member states have hit out at Myanmar's junta for its treatment of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and alleged widespread human rights abuses against pro-democracy activists.

Picket said the euro-zone economy was in recession and that the EU was trying to keep the economy afloat with its stimulus package.

"We are investing in innovations, transport, energy and environment. It will have an impact on trade evidently but with the stimulus package and trade negotiations, we hope to minimise that effect," he said.

"What I am proposing from the EU side is to work doubly hard on the free trade negotiations ... because we know the companies expect the results from us as trade creates new opportunities for them," he said.

The next EU-ASEAN FTA talks are slated for March 2009.

ASEAN has so far concluded free trade pacts with India, Australia and New Zealand. The 10-member bloc includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.