GENTING HIGHLANDS, July 6: Southeast Asian economic ministers on Saturday adopted a new policy to advance cooperation in a bid to accelerate a 2010 deadline to completely remove tariffs under a regional free trade plan.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministers also tasked the ASEAN secretariat to conduct an analysis of trade and investment policies in China and ASEAN amid plans to create the world’s largest free trade zone.

In what was described as a “breakthrough” by Singaporean Trade Minister George Yeo, ASEAN ministers agreed to let more advanced countries undertake new projects without having to wait for the rest.

The so-called “10 minus X” principle would be applied to plans for open sky policy, smart card project, services and investment liberalisation, and standards and conformance, said Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz.

This is because of the different levels of development among ASEAN members.. those who are ready can move first and help the others come on board with capacity building programs and technical assistance, she told a joint news conference after their annual retreat here.

It means countries are now prepared to let others move ahead first and not hold others back. It’s a breakthrough in our group’s thinking, Yeo added.

Yeo said ASEAN had been too leisurely in its internal liberalization process and must liberalise faster than China if it was serious in competing with the rising economic giant.

It must work towards speeding up the 2010 deadline for total abolition of tariffs by the six senior members — Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand — under the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).

There is a political will collectively to take a fresh look and accelerate the timetable of liberalisation and bring forward the date, not only among ASEAN six but among (Cambodia, Myannmar, Laos, Vietnam), he said.

Under AFTA, launched in 1993, tariffs on trade among the six ASEAN original members which account for more than 96 percent of regional trade have been dropped to below five per cent this year. They have until 2010 to remove all tariffs, while the four newer members have until 2015.

Intra-ASEAN trade accounts for about 20 per cent of the region’s annual total trade of more than $700 billion, officials say.

Rafidah said ASEAN must not be constrained by the deadline and if we can do it earlier, we should do it... we are all looking at how we can move things forward.

She said a framework agreement for an ASEAN-China free trade area (FTA) to create an integrated market of 1.7 billion consumers — making it larger than any other free trade zone — would be signed during the ASEAN leaders summit in Cambodia in November.

The ambitious ASEAN-China FTA plan was first given official status at a summit between ASEAN and China in November last year.

ASEAN ministers also held discussions for the first time with officials from US consultancy firm McKinsey and Co., who has been tasked to complete an ASEAN competitiveness study within nine months from now, Rafidah said.

Ministers agreed to push forward cooperation in the areas of intellectual property protection, developing small and medium-sized enterprises and to boost participation by private sector, she added.—AFP