ASEAN to revise AIA agreement to boost investment

Southeast Asian nations are expected to revise their investment area agreement to boost investors' confidence in the region, reports reaching here said on Thursday.

Economic ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were reviewing the issue on that at the 13th ASEAN Economic Ministers' (AEM) Retreat held in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei, on Thursday.

Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz, chair of the meeting, said that it was timely to revise the ASEAN Investment Area (AIA) framework to enhance foreign direct investment (FDI) into the region.

ASEAN would seek the inputs from the private sector before doing it, She was quoted by Malaysia's national news services Bernama.

The informal ASEAN economic ministers' gathering discussed issues to be presented to the upcoming AEM Meeting this August in the Philippines, and the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore in November.

ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said the AIA regime was drawn up with emphasis on the manufacturing sector and the revision would further provide important incentives to reinforce FDI inflow into the services sector.

ASEAN received 38.1 billion U.S. dollars in FDI in 2005. Ong said that the grouping may receive more than 45 billion U.S. dollars in FDI in 2006.

He also said that ASEAN would clarify any misperception that it did not protect foreign companies.

The ministers at the retreat also reviewed other matters concerning the grouping's economic integration, including the roadmap for Integration of Logistics Services to be signed at the AEM Meeting in the Philippines.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Source: Xinhua