AGREEMENT ON AUSTRALIA -NZ FTA ENTERS INTO FORCE

From Ahmad Fuad Yahya

JAKARTA, Jan 13 (Bernama) -- After the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (FTA)
which came into force on Jan 1, the Asean-Australia-New Zealand FTA
(AANZFTA), which is described as the single most comprehensive economic
agreement among Asean's Dialogue Partners, has also taken off.

Under the AANZFTA, tariff reductions start gradually from Jan 1, with free
trade to be fully realised by 2015, the Asean Secretariat said in a statement
here Tuesday.

The newer ASEAN member states – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam – have
longer time frames to meet its requirements.

The agreement with Australia-New Zealand is unique in that the goods,
services and investment components were negotiated in a single undertaking as
compared to FTAs with other Asean Dialogue Partners where they were negotiated
sequentially.

The agreement on the establishment of the the FTA was initially signed in
Thailand in February 2009.

Eight of the 12 Parties – Australia, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand,
the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam – are now implementing the agreement.

"This is indeed a significant development particularly in our efforts to
slowly integrate the markets in this region," said Dr Surin Pitsuwan,
Secretary-General of Asean.

"What makes this particular development more meaningful is the fact that the
AANZFTA is being implemented amidst such economically challenging times," he
said.

The AANZFTA Agreement hopes to create a trans-Pacific free trade zone
comprising a market of 600 million people with a combined GDP of US$ 2.7
trillion.

It is expected to substantially reduce barriers to trade in goods and
services, thereby, opening up a wide range of opportunities for trade and
investment in the region not only for the Parties but non-Parties as well.

-- BERNAMA