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BURMA RELATED NEWS - October
30, 2001.
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HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Outside forces capture ASEAN in their
grip
AFP - Laotian prime minister to visit
Singapore
AFP - Uphill struggle for Koizumi to halt
Japan's sliding stature at ASEAN summit
Asia Pulse - Asean Army Chiefs to Hold Meeting
on Anti-Terrorism in Manila
Bkk Post - China
agrees to plans for trade towns
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Tuesday October 30, 11:03 AM Outside forces capture ASEAN in their grip SINGAPORE, Oct 30 (AFP) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), set up to accelerate regional growth, is having its agenda dictated by events beyond its control as leaders of the 10-nation grouping prepare for their annual summit. But handled correctly, the twin impacts of an anaemic global economy and
the US-led fight against terrorism, can be turned to ASEAN's advantage and
enhance the drive for regional free trade, analysts said.
There is no room to revert to protectionist policies at next week's summit
in the Brunei capital of Bandar Seri Begawan, they said.
"The ASEAN leaders are expected to address immediate concerns to Southeast
Asia such as the twin challenges posed by the global economic downturn and the
international fight against terrorism," Brunei's foreign ministry said.
"In dealing with these concerns, the ASEAN leaders are expected to discuss
a wide range of topics such as responding to longer term challenges,
accelerating regional integration and bridging the development gap."
Critics have written off ASEAN as a "sunset organisation", saying it failed
to respond adequately to the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and would be tested
again by the new economic slump.
ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino said the grouping must turn global
events to its advantage -- using them as a prop to further tear down tariff
walls as regional economies bear the brunt of the global slowdown.
"Of course, it has become more urgent because of the developments in the
United States," he told AFP.
"We need to do more like eliminating tariffs altogether because what we
would like to do is to integrate the ASEAN economies. That is the only way we
can compete."
Although many ASEAN economies are either in recession or on the brink of
one, Severino said there was no turning back from tariff reduction.
"It's totally illogical to turn protectionist at this point," he
said.
The ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) covering the group's six original members
-- Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines and Singapore -- is on
track for implementation in 2003.
"AFTA is just about done," said Severino.
Newer entries Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam will join between 2006
and 2010.
But with the two groups at different stages of economic development and
with varying political systems, they have different perspectives of the risks
and benefits of economic liberalisation and the free market.
From the former group, Malaysia also has reservations about a
no-holds-barred free trade pact.
Analysts, however, said that with regional economies floundering against
the backdrop of the campaign against terrorism, they have to push for increased
intra-regional economic cooperation at the first summit since September
11.
"Regional economic integration ... that is the key. The process has to be
strengthened further," Pradumna Rana, manager of the Asian Development Bank's
(ADB) regional economic monitoring, told AFP.
"The 911 (September 11) accident has brought in additional uncertainty. We
need lots of these regional efforts."
A senior ASEAN diplomat, who asked not to be named, said any discussions on
trade and economic issues would be linked to the terror attacks in New York and
Washington "and how the region can cope."
The ADB's Rana said the progress of economic restructuring, an issue that
has faded since the region's recovery from the 1997-98 crisis, should also be on
the agenda.
"It's still incomplete and that should be carried on," he said.
The painful reforms are crucial in preparing ASEAN economies for the long
haul once the US economy starts moving again, said Rana.
The ambitious proposal for a ASEAN-China free trade agreement, first mooted
a year ago and aimed at a market of 1.7 billion consumers, will be further
discussed in Brunei with added emphasis now that the world's most populous
nation is listed to enter the World Trade Organisation on December 10.
But, Severino stressed: "The United States cannot be replaced as a major
market for ASEAN."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday October 30, 11:41 AM
Laotian prime minister to visit Singapore SINGAPORE, Oct 30 (AFP) -
Laotian Prime Minister BounNhang Vorachith will arrive here Wednesday for a
four-day official visit aimed at strengthening trade and investment ties,
Singapore officials said Tuesday.
He will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
Somsavat Lengsavad, senior officials and a business delegation, the foreign
ministry said in a statement.
Soon after his arrival, BounNhang will deliver a keynote speech to a
business seminar on Laos' economy, development plans and investment
opportunities.
Singapore is ranked 12th among the foreign investors in Laos with an
investment value of 21.8 million US dollars.
While in the city-state, BounNhang will attend a luncheon with Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong and meet President S.R. Nathan.
BounNhang and Goh will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) leaders' summit in Brunei on November 5-6.
Laos, Singapore and Brunei are members of ASEAN which also groups Cambodia,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
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Tuesday October 30, 9:26 AM
Uphill struggle for Koizumi to halt Japan's sliding stature at ASEAN summit AFP - Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi will face a tough task halting the slide in Japan's international
standing when he meets ASEAN leaders next week, experts say, particularly as
China's stature has increased since the terror attacks.
Koizumi is to leave here Sunday for Brunei where leaders of Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet their three most powerful neighbours --
China, Japan, and South Korea.
Historian and author Hideaki Kase said Koizumi "may want to highlight a
united front with ASEAN (in supporting the military campaign in Afghanistan) to
please the United States."
But Indonesia, ASEAN's biggest member and the world's most populous Muslim
nation, would be less eager to be seen to be backing the US too strongly, Kase
said, adding Malaysia was not in favour of Washington either.
With no high-profile role expected from him as a mediator, Koizumi will
only figure in the supporting cast at the gathering, all the more so because
Japan is no longer able to shield the region from economic woes, Kase
said.
"Japan used to be a horn of plenty," he said, noting Japanese leaders
invariably announced an aid package when attending a major Asian meeting. "But
now lacking enough money, Mr Koizumi will not have much influence."
When economic crisis ripped through Southeast Asia in 1997, Japan offered a
total of 80 billion dollars in aid under the governments of then premiers
Ryutaro Hashimoto and Keizo Obuchi.
But a government official indicated there was no large aid package in the
pipeline this time.
"We have not worked out what could be called a Koizumi Package at the
moment," he said, while stressing "Japan nontheless hopes to send a warm
message, the message that Japan continues to put much importance on
ASEAN."
Kase said "what ASEAN wants from Japan most is its own economic recovery."
"When Japan sneezes, ASEAN catches a cold."
"The premier advocates painful reform to achieve long-term growth ... but
it also brings pain to ASEAN," Kase said.
Kazuro Umezu, professor of international politics at Nagoya Gakuin
University, said instead "Asian nations are increasingly looking to China" since
the September 11 attacks on the United States and subsequent US-led strikes on
Afghanistan.
Koizumi, no longer able to engage in checkbook diplomacy because of
domestic economic problems, would be "unlikely to score many points" in ASEAN
leaders's eyes, Umezu said. "Japan's international standing is gradually
sliding."
At the APEC summit in Shanghai earlier this month, Beijing managed to win
the trust of Indonesia and other largely-Muslim states by not explicitly
endorsing the US campaign, Umezu argued.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin, the host of the 21-nation gathering, called
for restraint even when he emphasized he and US President George W. Bush were
committed to working together with the rest of the world to combat
terrorism.
"We hope that anti-terrorism efforts can have clearly defined targets, and
efforts should hit accurately, and also avoid innocent casualties," Jiang said
at the time, while also calling for the United Nations to "be brought into full
play."
On the sidelines of the ASEAN plus Three meeting Monday, Koizumi will hold
tri-lateral talks with Chinese and South Korean leaders.
Koizumi will also be in an ASEAN plus One meeting, the group's meeting with
each of the three partners, on Tuesday.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday October 30, 5:37 PM
Asean Army Chiefs to Hold Meeting on Anti-Terrorism in Manila MANILA, Oct 30 Asia Pulse -
Chiefs of armies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN] will hold
their second annual meeting here on Nov. 15 to discuss the new threat of
terrorism in the region in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New
York and Washington.
The day-long conference will be held at the Garden Ballroom EDSA Shangrila
Hotel in Mandaluyong City.
Army chief Lt. Gen. Jaime S. de los Santos said this year's conference is
"ASEAN Armies Evolving Role in Counter Terrorism."
The conferees will draw out plans in responding to threats of terrorism in
the ASEAN region, de los Santos said.
They will also discuss the modes of action to be undertaken by the ASEAN
armies within the bounds of fundamental laws as multi-lateral cooperation within
the ASEAN context.
The meeting will coincide with the holding of the 11th ASEAN Armies Rifle
Meet in Fort Bonifacio, Makati City from Nov. 11 to 16.
Participants in the friendly shooting competition will be sharpshooters
from the armies of ASEAN.
Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo will be the guest of honor and speaker
at the conference to represent President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - October 30,
2001.
China agrees to plans for trade towns
Sa-nguan Khumrungroj
Thailand and China will set up trade towns in a bid to intensify economic
co-operation in the Mekong sub-region, officials said.
Under the agreement, Chiang Mai would set up an area selling mainly
Chinese-made products and Jinghong, in China's Xishuangbanna region, would do
the same for Thai products.
Rachen Veerapan, chairman of Chiang Mai's Chamber of Commerce, and Dao
Xinhua, his counterpart from Xishuangbanna, signed the pact during the annual
Joint Economic Quadrangle Committee meeting in Jinghong. Burma and Laos also
took part.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency said ``Little Thailand town'' would
take up a 10-rai area in Jinghong and provide over 200 trade booths selling
products from Thailand, Burma and Laos.
``China Trade town'' in Chiang Mai would mainly sell Chinese-made products.
A delegation from Xishuangbanna, in Yunnan province, would visit Thailand
next month to discuss the project.
Rattakit Manathat, Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the private-sector
agreement marked a major step towards enhancing border trade between the two
countries. It would also promote economic prosperity in the Mekong
sub-region.
``Our government fully supports the idea,'' he said. ``The Thai private
sector has to find ways of boosting bilateral trade and investment ahead of
China's entry into the World Trade Organisation.''
A Chinese embassy official said the project stemmed from discussions in May
between the leaders of both countries in Bangkok, which focused on the setting
up of a ``special regime'' to promote trade, transportation and tourism between
northern Thailand and Yunnan province.
The volume of two-way trade between the countries reached US$6.2 billion
last year, with Thailand exporting US$2.6 billion worth of largely agricultural
goods, including rubber.
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