ASEAN-Australia, New Zealand FTA could be ready in 2007: official

The comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between ASEAN and Australia and New Zealand could be available in the year 2007, senior official said Friday.

Economic ministers of all the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia and New Zealand collectively suggested the timetable after concluding their 11th consultations here.

"Ministers recognized that with the right level of ambition and commitment to concluding the negotiations as a single undertaking, a comprehensive FTA could be done in 2007," said a joint statement issued after the meeting in Malaysia's Capital of Kuala Lumpur.

ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand negotiations have "transcended the confidence-building stage and are now in the substantive critical phrase with discussions focused on the draft texts of the various chapters of the agreement, including economic cooperation provisions, and modalities for market access negotiations," said the statement.

Meanwhile, ministers also acknowledged that "there could be some difficulties encountered in the negotiations given the diverse economic circumstances and broad range of interests of the participating countries."

To address the challenges, ministers urged the Trade Negotiating Committee to find creative solutions to close the gap on difficult issues and called on participating countries to exercise greater flexibility in resolving difficult issues.

In 2005, goods trade between ASEAN, and Australia and New Zealand expanded by 23 percent to 35.56 billion U.S. dollars. Trade in service also experienced strong growth over the same period.

However, in contrast to the substantial trade relations, investment relations between ASEAN, and Australia and New Zealand are still "relatively weak" and needs be further strengthened, those ministers noted.

The consultations were jointly chaired by Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade Mark Vaile and New Zealand Minister for Trade Phil Goff.

Source: Xinhua