Asean officials meet in Cambodia to keep trade flowing in the region

Business Mirror

http://businessmirror.com.ph

Written by Max V. de Leon / Reporter
Tuesday, 05 May 2009

SOUTHEAST Asian trade officials are now meeting in Cambodia to find ways to maintain robust exchange of goods in the region, including initiatives that will prod private institutions to offer more trade financing despite the crisis.

Senior Trade Undersecretary Thomas Aquino will also exchange notes with his fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) trade officials on the domestic procedures of each member-state relevant to the enactment of their tariff obligations, and to anticipate the impact of the new Asean Charter on the format and frequency of meetings to help the members save on travel costs.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in a statement, said trade financing is now a big concern of the Philippine government as local exporters earlier disclosed that banks have become “so cautious nowadays that they are reluctant to lend even to exporters who submit properly documented buyers’ orders.”

“Corroborating the Philippine experience, a G-20 [Group of 20 largest economies] research points out that trade has declined globally because of severely reduced import demand and also because of the sharp fall in trade financing,” the DTI said.

With this, the Philippines will be working with Asean on a related proposal from Singapore to catalogue which export industries have remained strong and which have been severely affected, making it easier for lenders to appreciate the state of the market and the client base.

“Finally, the Philippines expects that the Asean Economic Ministers [AEM] retreat [in Cambodia] will help members streamline the formats and frequency of meetings in the AEM circuit. The newly minted Asean Charter is expected to ultimately reduce the number of Asean meetings. But in these times of adjustment to the Charter, some increase in frequency is temporarily arising,” the DTI said.

The Philippines, the agency added, will participate in examining proposals such as teleconferencing and assigning issue-or sector-specific themes for the meetings under the AEM process.

This could lead to cost savings and ensuring appropriate attendance until the Charter provision on permanent representatives to the Asean kicks in with a strong potential for reducing the global number of meetings, the agency said.