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East Asian Economic Grouping Proposed

SHANGHAI, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (9 May 2002): Former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos today advocated an East Asian Economic Grouping (EAEG) that would include all East Asian economies.

Such a regional grouping, he said, would act as a hedge against domination of the World Trade Organization by the United States and the European Union. "Only by combining into one East Asian grouping can a future ASEAN 10-plus-three" generate enough leverage to enforce reciprocity on their trading partners in the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and the European Union," he said.

Mr. Ramos spoke at the "Towards Asian Integration: The Role of Regional Cooperation" seminar held the day before the Asian Development Bank's 35th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors.

Mr. Ramos stressed the importance of continued cooperation in the international community especially in light of the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the world economy.

"All our countries are beginning to realize how precarious the process of globalization really is - how easily market mechanisms can be rolled back by cultural resentments and grievances - real or imagined - over economic exploitation, political oppression, and social injustice," said Mr. Ramos.

He said EAEG would enable the smaller economies of ASEAN to cultivate competitive niches within the global economy as well as expand their clout by forming regional blocs.

"Throughout the world, neighbors and trading partners are gathering into bigger regional groupings for fear of being isolated and marginalized in global competition," he said.

The ASEAN is composed of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The three other countries are South Korea, Japan and the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Other speakers were Cham Prasidh, Cambodia's Minister of Commerce; Xiaozhun Yi, Director-General, Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, PRC; Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh; and Chia Siow Yue, Director, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.

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