The elimination of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade tops the list of recommendations made recently by European businesses in Southeast Asia that say NTBs prevent the expansion of trade and investment between the two regions.
The list is contained in a region-wide position paper drafted by the European Union-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (EU-ASEAN) Business Council on ways to boost market access as well as increase trade and investment between Europe and ASEAN, according to a news report by Bernama, Malaysia’s national news agency.
In calling for the dissolution of NTBs, the paper highlights issues such as cumbersome customs procedures with little harmonization across ASEAN, and unpredictable application of regulations and procedures that impact businesses’ ability to make informed long-term investment decisions.
Other issues raised include restrictions on foreign ownership and foreign competition, and lack of harmonized standards or lack of mutual recognition of such standards across the region.
In line with the launch, the EU has published its latest EU-ASEAN trade and investment statistics which confirm that the bloc is ASEAN’s second most important trading partner after China, accounting for 13% of ASEAN’s trade in goods, the council said.
Between 2004 and 2014, ASEAN-EU trade grew at an annual compound rate of 4.7% with the trade balance very much in ASEAN’s favor, with the EU importing more from the region than it exports to it.
“Singapore is the EU’s most important trading partner in ASEAN, accounting for 25.1 per cent of ASEAN-EU trade in goods, followed by Malaysia (18.8 per cent), Thailand (17.3 per cent) and Vietnam (15.8 per cent),” it said.
The statistics also show that the EU was ASEAN’s largest investor in 2013, accounting for 22% of investment flows into ASEAN, followed by Japan with 18.7%.
Singapore accounted for 60% of the EU’s foreign direct investment stock, followed by Indonesia (15%), and Malaysia (11%).
“The EU has a huge stake in the continued success of Singapore and ASEAN and is committed to a vibrant and dynamic region, where enhanced trade, investment and business links create new opportunities for economic growth,” said EU Ambassador to Singapore Dr. Michael Pulch.
“The market access paper by the EU-ASEAN Business Council addresses a number of important issues including on regulatory frameworks, transparency and non-discrimination between economic operators, to further promote our impressive trade and investment links.”
Meanwhile, EU-ASEAN Business Council executive director Chris Humphrey said the trade and investment statistics show the importance of the commercial relationship between the two dynamic regions.
“The paper comes at an important time as ASEAN prepares to launch the AEC later this year. The policy positions outlined in this paper are intended to help shape the post-2015 agenda, and will be discussed further when the European and ASEAN business community participate in a dialogue session with economic ministers from across ASEAN at the ASEAN-EU Business Summit in August,” he said.
Photo: Amanda Nichols
