Asean, EAS ministers restate commitment to economic integration

NAY PYI TAW - Economic ministers of ASEAN and East Asia Summit (EAS) countries reiterated here Wednesday their commitment to promote broader economic integration in East Asia and the Asia Pacific region.

ASEAN's eight EAS partner countries are Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.

In a joint statement issued after the Second East Asia Summit ( EAS) Economic Ministers Meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, the ministers vowed to continue to work closely with the EAS framework, not only to achieve their respective economic integration objectives and contribute to regional economic resilience, but also for the EAS to contribute to global stability and prosperity.

The meeting was held as part of a series of related meetings of the 46th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM).

The ministers underscored the need to sustain the gains from their respective economic integration efforts especially in light of a global economy still recovering from the slowdown.

The ministers emphasized the importance of prioritizing cooperative efforts between ASEAN and EAS partners to facilitate the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) goal and further integration of ASEAN with the wider region.

To this end, the ministers shared the need to identify areas for prioritized cooperation with focus towards 2015 and beyond.

Expressing concern about the inability of WTO members to implement the Bali Package in accordance with the ministerial decision in Bali, the ministers reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining support for the multilateral system and called for a comprehensive and balanced implementation of the Bali Package.

According to the statement, the combined GDP of the EAS participating countries grew 0.9 percent in 2012-13 compared to the 5.3 percent growth in 2011-12. The combined GDP of EAS participating countries stood at 39.813 trillion US dollars in 2013.

ASEAN's total trade with the non-ASEAN EAS countries expanded by 1.6 percent from 1.082 trillion U.S. dollars in 2012 to 1.099 trillion U.S. dollars in 2013.

The eight non-ASEAN EAS countries accounted for 43.8 percent of ASEAN's total trade.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow from the non-ASEAN EAS countries in 2013 reached 64.3 billion U.S. dollars or 52.5 percent of ASEAN's total FDI inflow.