EU PUSHES FOR SPEEDIER FTA WITH ASEAN

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- The European Union (EU) has called on members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), including Malaysia, to speed up efforts in negotiating for the free trade agreement (FTA) between the two blocks.

Its Ambassador/Head of the Delegation of the European Commision to
Malaysia, Vincent Piket, said 18 months after the start of negotiations and six
rounds of talks later, "we need to soberly recognise that we are not where we
had aimed and hoped to be."

"Discussions have not yet moved to market access commitments and in several
areas we are still at the exploratory level," he told reporters after opening
the Malaysia-EU Trade Forum hosted by the EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and
Industry here Wednesday.

Parallel to the multilateral trade agenda between Asean and the EU, he
said,
Malaysia and the EU were also pursuing the bilateral trade negotiations.

He said in 2007 the Asean and EU ministers of economy and trade agreed to
establish a comprehensive FTA to provide for mutual trade and investment
liberalisation.

Piket said the agreement should remove tariff and non-tariff barriers to
trade in goods and services.

"It should improve market access for investments and should cover
trade-related issues such as intellectual property rights, competition rules and
sustainable development," he said.

He said it was clear "enough (that) we are living in difficult economic
times."

"I understand all countries in the world, including Malaysia, and the EU
have to take an active approach to make sure the economy will continue to
grow and rebound.

"So what I am proposing from the EU side is to work doubly hard on the
free trade negotiations between the EU and Asean countries, including Malaysia,
because we know the companies expect the results from us as trade creates new
opportunities for them," he said.

The EU Ambassador said euro-zone economy was in recession now.

"We are going through a difficult moment. On the EU side, we are doing
everything we can to put in place the economic stimulus package to keep the
economy going.

"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.

Piket said the EU would contact its Asean partners to see "when we can
meet again for the next round of talks".

It was earlier scheduled that the next discussion will be March
2009.

In between, he said, there would be many technical consultations.

"For us, given the economic situation we have to redouble our efforts and
call on Malaysia and other Asean countries to do the same," he said.

What is clear, according to Piket, is that by opening trade between Asean
countries, including Malaysia, and the European Union "we can make a
difference."

He said experts had estimated that a comprehensive FTA would boost Asean
exports to the EU by 18 percent.

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

Earlier, in his speech, Piket said the EU would naturally look to Malaysia
to give the process a push.

"Malaysia accounts for almost one quarter of the Asean exports to
the EU.

"It is one of our largest trade partners in Asean. From a business
operator's point of view it will be difficult to understand if Malaysia was not
among the leading group in the FTA negotiations.

"So let's work on that and live up to the expectations of firms and
investors here in Malaysia and the EU," he said.