ASEAN to still use own currencies

BANGKOK, April 3 (TNA) - Member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed that a single currency will not be practical in regional businesses once the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is formed by 2015. Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong, who has attended the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2012 in China’s southern Hainan Province from April 1-3, said Tuesday although ASEAN government leaders have expressed full support for the AEC, which calls for strengthening economic cooperation among the ASEAN's 10 member countries, they have found that a single currency will not be practical in the initial stage, citing negative impacts learned from the 27-member European Union (EU), in which several member countries' economies have suffered from severe financial woes after joining the single euro currency policy. Therefore, Kittirat acknowledged, it has been agreed that ASEAN member countries continue using their own currencies after the establishment of the AEC over the next three years. Meanwhile, Thai commercial attaché in Beijing Paichit Viboontanasarn suggested that the AEC will create plenty of opportunities for Thailand, as the Kingdom has comparative advantages in its strategic location in Asia, and that there remain plenty of rooms for Thai business operators to expand their trade and investment with their Chinese counterparts, as demand for Thai goods is high in the immense Chinese market, including rice, rubber, cassava, furniture, jewellery and leather products. (TNA)