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Forum renews vow for integration
By Bao Daozu (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-04-25 06:10
BOAO: Participants of the Boao Forum for Asia yesterday wrapped up their
annual two-day conference with a renewed vow for regional integration.
The forming of something like the European Union in Asia is still far away,
said participants, but East Asia is well on its way to creating an East Asian
community.
Speakers from South Asia said their part of the continent, while working to
meet a similar goal to that of East Asia, was already looking for opportunities
to link the two areas.
With a common pledge, delegates put forward various ideas and opinions on the
issue.
Jia Qinglin, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference's National Committee, said trade and economic co-operation would pave
the way for all-round co-operation in the areas of politics, security, social
development and culture.
"Starting from economic integration, we will gradually build a regional
co-operative framework with a rich content, broad scope and complete mechanism,"
he said.
A major achievement of East Asia's co-operation was the ASEAN plus three
dialogue - the co-operative mechanism between the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations and China, Japan and South Korea.
The mechanism helped create a favourable atmosphere for co-operation at
different levels throughout the region and laid a foundation for the building of
the East Asian community, said Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at
the forum.
"The East Asian Community that I am referring to is not composed of carefully
defined objectives, rules and procedures, but broadly constructed norms,
attitudes and behaviours. It is all about creating social and economic capital,
not military power houses," Badawi said.
Like East Asia, South Asia is also taking steps to further co-operate.
Following the thawing of relations between India and Pakistan, the South Asian
Association for Regional Co-operation was established.
"Both regional and sub-regional initiatives can help us develop our
complementarities to better harness the potentialities amongst us for the
benefit of our people. We hope to achieve these objectives through collective
efforts, which, in turn, will contribute to the promotion of inter-regional
co-operation," said Kirti Nidhi Bista, vice-chairman of Nepal's Council of
Ministers.
A number of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTA) among
Asian economies were signed, and dozens are in the pipeline.
However, to reach an equal footing with other regional economies such as the
European Union and North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), Asia should
accelerate economic integration, said Moon-Soo Chung, economic policy adviser to
the president of South Korea.
"Ongoing discussions on FTAs among Asian countries are long overdue and we
need to expedite such discussions," he said.
On how long it would take Asia to achieve successful economic integration,
opinions differed.
Onkar Kanwar, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry, said: "Obviously we are heading towards an Asian common market within
the next two decades."
Khemphen Pholsena, vice-president of the Asian Development Bank, said the
process needed 50 years.
"It will come but we need to be more mature," she said. Although the
continent's economy is growing quickly, there is still an enormous income
disparity in the region, and financial systems in many Asian countries are still
very weak, she said.
In addition, a deeper integration requires political willingness, trust and
confidence, she said.
Economic integration brought about by Asian FTAs will necessitate the study
of monetary integration, said Donald Tsang, acting chief executive of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region.
"The benefits of globalization and Asian economic integration are clearly
strong incentives for us to think about whether we should work towards a single
Asian currency," he said.
If Asian economies indeed decide they need a single currency, they should
build more sophisticated financial markets and improve their regulatory
institutions, he said.
But Roberto de Ocampo, president of the Asian Institute of Management, said
the introduction of a single currency had political implications because a
unified central bank would be needed, which requires compromise. Political will
is crucial, he said.
Fidel Ramos, chairman of the Boao Forum, was satisfied with the discussions
on regional integration.
"Promoting the integration of Asia - and co-operation in the Asia-Pacific
region - is the Boao Forum's reason for being," he said.
(China Daily 04/25/2005 page2)
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