Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
PM proposes Pan-Asian Free Trade area
By agencies
|
Tuesday, 13 December 2005, 20:30 IST
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh mooted a Pan-Asian Free Trade Area, along the lines of North American Free Trade Area and the European Union, as part of efforts to make the Asian region an economic powerhouse.
"I believe the objective basis for the economies of our region to come together exists. The subjective desire to create an East Asian Community, bringing together ASEAN, China, Japan, Korea, and also Australia and New Zealand, is manifest. Like the North American Free Trade Area, and the expanding European Union, a Pan-Asian FTA will be a dynamic, open and inclusive association of the countries of our region," he said.
"I am convinced this is the only way to move forward, even though there will be skeptics and it may not be easy. But for believers it is eminently possible," Singh told the ASEAN Business Advisory Council's special leaders dialogue with the theme India-Partnering with ASEAN for Mutual Prosperity and Shared Interests.
The prime minister said the challenges today were to create and maintain a regional and international environment that enables us to attain and sustain high rates of economic growth.
"We must create opportunities for entrepreneurship to flourish not only locally, but also regionally and globally. Economic activity cannot be confined to national borders; it must be channelized to fuel growth in each other's countries," he told the business leaders.
Regional trading arrangements have become important building blocks of multilateralism in an increasingly globalized world, he noted.
"Therefore, we seek closer economic interaction with ASEAN. We are committed to bringing down our tariffs to levels prevalent in ASEAN countries, to dismantle unwarranted barriers and to expand global capital flows. We must walk this road together, so that enterprises in our countries find it a beneficial process, not a hurtful one," he said.
"There may be losers, and there will certainly be gainers, but on the whole, we will obtain a win-win outcome, the prime minister said.
Observing that India is a vibrant marketplace, he said businesses from abroad, including from ASEAN, Japan and the Republic of Korea, find India a productive and profitable business destination.
Pointing out to China, he said, "The gathering momentum of India-China relations is visible in the expansion of our bilateral economic ties."
"Today, our external economic profile is robust and reassuring to investors, at home and abroad. After registering an 8 percent rate of growth in 2003-2004, our economy recorded upwards of 7.0 percent growth for two years in a row. Indeed, in the first half of 2005-06, we have touched 8.0 percent," he said.
Singh pointed out that India had concluded a Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation with ASEAN in 2003 and with Singapore more recently.
"The ASEAN region has an abundance of natural resources and significant technological skills. These provide a natural base for the growth of synergies and integration between ASEAN and India - in both trade and investment. I believe we can double the present level of bilateral trade by 2007, reaching a target of $30 billion by then," he added.