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Arroyo: ASEAN will get moving forward

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE:

Arroyo

SINGAPORE: India has been identified, alongside the United States and the European Union, as a factor behind the current “slowdown of Doha” talks on global trade.

Addressing the opening session of the two-day “World Economic Forum on East Asia,” Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said here on Sunday that the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), chaired by her at present, would “get moving forward … Doha or no Doha.”

Ms. Arroyo said: “First, we have the problem between Europe and America. Then, we have the problem of India. And, we [the ASEAN] work with America in APEC [the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum]; and we work with India in the EAS [East Asia Summit]. … We are not the problem in the slowdown of Doha. We are moving forward with our bilateral and regional trade agreements so that we will forge our integration, Doha or no Doha.”

Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, a central player in the current phase of the Doha process, was not present at the meeting. He was listed as a key speaker.

On “the leadership imperative for an Asian century,” the theme of the conference being organised by the World Economic Forum in partnership with Singapore’s Economic Development Board, Ms. Arroyo said: “The real issue is the rapid economic rise of the region at a time when the global order has undergone enormous swings.” She saw the current rise of China and India as an aspect of such “swings.”

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said “the prospects look bleak [now] for achieving a grand bargain in the World Trade Organisation.” Mr. Yeo said the global trade talks could be kept on “the backburner, even if we don’t succeed this time.”

ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong, later told The Hindu that India and the association “just want to soldier on” towards a possible free trade agreement. Mr. Ong said, “We have not talked about pushing backR 21; the July deadline that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the 10 ASEAN leaders had set for clinching the deal. He said the two sides, expected to meet at the economic ministers’ level in August, could address the impasse, if it were to persist beyond July.

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Arroyo: ASEAN will get moving forward

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