SIGNING OF FTA ON INVESMENT SIGNIFIES SUCCESS OF ASEAN-KOREA SUMMIT

From Khairdzir Yunus

JEJU ISLAND (South Korea), June 3 (Bernama) -- The signing of the
Asean-Korea Investment Agreement was one of the significant achievements of the
just-concluded Asean-South Korea Commemorative Summit held on this beautiful
island of Jeju.

This is simply because the agreement will boost economic and trade relations
between Asean and South Korea where trade volume between the two sides is
expected to increase to US$150 billion (US$1 = RM3.48) by 2015.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, in a keynote address at
the closing session of the Asean-South Korea CEO Summit on Monday, said the
signing of the Asean-Korea FTA on investment had completed the Framework
Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between Asean and South Korea.

The investment agreement complements the Trade in Goods Agreement, which was
signed on Aug 26, 2006 and the Trade in Services Agreement, on Nov 21, 2007.

Najib said that though the process of completing the framework agreement had
been challenging, it was "the spirit of collaboration that enabled Asean and
(South) Korea to successfully conclude the negotiations".

It signified the commitment of Asean and South Korea to take their
relationship to a higher plane through further integration of their economies,
he said.

"We must now build on and take advantage of the infrastructure that we
have
put in place," said Najib, who is also Malaysian finance minister.

Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed,
at a meeting with Malaysian journalists over breakfast here Tuesday, concurred
with Najib and said the investment agreement would facilitate and encourage
investments between Malaysia and South Korea.

It will also promote Malaysian outward investment to the region and further
facilitate the integration of Malaysian companies into the regional economy, he
added.

Undoubtedly, the agreement will promote investment flows and create a
liberal, facilitative, transparent and competitive investment regime in Asean
and South Korea.

It will also progressively liberalise the investment regime, create a
conducive environment for Asean and South Korean investors and their investments
and promote cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis.

Apart from that, it will also encourage and promote the flow of investments
and cooperation between Asean and South Korea, improve transparency of
investment rules, and provide for the protection of investments.

"The agreement incorporates a review mechanism to improve the transparency
of investment rules and to discuss progressive liberalisation of the investment
regimes of Asean and the Republic of Korea," the Ministry of International Trade
and Industry (Miti) had said in a statement after the signing of the agreement
by the all the economic ministers of the 10 Asean countries and South Korea,
witnessed by their leaders.

Mustapa had signed the agreement on behalf of Malaysia.

During the summit, Najib also had bilateral meetings, with his Vietnamese
counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung on Monday and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak
yesterday.

In his meeting with Lee, Najib said he was impressed with the green
technology promoted by South Korea, especially the small-scale nuclear reactor
which the Koreans used to generate electricity as it was not only safe but
produced zero carbon emissions as compared to coal-powered stations.

He was told by the South Korean president that the cost of generating
electric power was only one-third of the cost of producing electricity using a
coal-powered station.

This has prompted Najib to ask the relevant Malaysian ministers to visit
South Korea as soon as possible to study and look deeper into the possibility of
applying the green technology promoted by South Korea in Malaysia.

As for South Korea, the summit provided a crucial opportunity for President
Lee to share his new diplomatic doctrine called the "New Asia Initiative".

Under the initiative, announced in March during his trip to the Indonesia
capital of Jakarta, South Korea aims to improve its relations with all Asian
nations and promote their common interests on the global stage.

-- BERNAMA