The 17th East Asia Business Council (EABC) meeting chaired by Mr. Sumitaka Fujita, Special Advisor, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry was held on June 17, 2010 in Vientiane, Laos. The meeting was attended by twenty eight representatives from nine ASEAN+3 countries namely, China, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Lao PDR, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.YBhg Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Azman Hashim, Group Chairman of AmBank Group represented Malaysia at the meeting. It was noted that the global economy continues to recover much faster than expected especially among the emerging economies of Asia and Latin America. However, there are still lingering uncertainties coupled with vulnerability to global risk which will present challenges to achieving stable and sustained growth.
Against this backdrop, the East Asia Business Council (EABC) had adopted the theme of ‘Sustaining Growth Across the Region’ for its 2010 work programme with the aim of developing recommendations to ensure sustained growth and stable economic recovery in the region. Key recommendations identified for submission at the Business Council’s annual consultation session with the ASEAN Plus Three Economic Ministers (AEM) +3) in August 2010 are as follows:
§ Accelerate the formalisation of an East Asia Free Trade Agreement (EAFTA) by consolidating the existing ASEAN Plus One Free Trade Agreements and overall EAFTA negotiations to be launched by 2011;
§ Execute the EABC Business Matching Website which would serve as a platform to promote business information exchange, as well as business-to-business (B-to-B) exchange, among entrepreneurs of ASEAN Plus Three countries (China, Japan and Republic of Korea). The development of the website would integrate the business listings and matching services of constituent members of the EABC. Funds would be sought from the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Fund to initiate the website;
§ Governments to expedite the implementation of the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) by adopting bilateral pilot projects instead of federated approach. The ASW is expected to reduce the amount of time taken to clear the containers through Customs and thereby, lowering costs for businesses. The Business Council believes that by expediting the implementation of the ASW, it would facilitate efficient movement of goods within ASEAN and eventually with its existing dialogue partners in East Asia; and
§ Formation of an ASEAN Plus Three Tourism Club similar to the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) a non-profit tourism association comprising both public and private tourism sector organizations from ASEAN. This is to be carried out by instituting relevant stakeholders from the tourism industry of the Plus-Three countries (Japan, China and Republic of Korea) into the existing the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) thus forming an ASEAN Plus Three Tourism Club. |