JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - The Economic Ministers from Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus Three (ASEAN+3), including China, Japan and South Korea stressed the need for strengthening cooperation between the counties to restore economic conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The special virtual conference held on Thursday (06/04).
The members express serious concern over the epidemic, which continues to affect the lives of people in the region and around the world. They expect that the contagion of the outbreak should be stemmed within the soonest possible time and express their commitment to a coordinated response among themselves to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic to their respective countries and the region.
The ministers also welcome ASEAN’ readiness to explore cooperation with its external partners and the international community to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. They acknowledge that there is an urgent need for intensified and concerted efforts to address the adverse impact of the epidemic on their people, including economic disruptions that have affected regional supply chains, the financial markets, and human capital.
They agreed to take the necessary next steps to translate the leaders’ directive into concrete actions. The ministers reaffirm the importance of keeping the markets open for trade and investment to strengthen the resiliency and sustainability of regional supply chains and maintain necessary flow of goods and services.
Consistent with the rights and obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) covered agreements, the ministers agree to refrain from taking unnecessary measures that may affect the smooth flow of essential goods such as food, commodities, medicines and medical supplies in the region, and will notify all trade-restrictive measures in compliance with existing WTO rules. They also express their commitment to make utmost efforts to ensure the continued flow of trade in goods and services, especially for essential goods and services.
Then, the policymakers said will continue to address non-tariff barriers, especially those that impede the smooth flow of goods and services in supply chains. In line with the objectives to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, ensure that measures restricting cross-border movement of goods and services that are deemed necessary for public health emergency response will be targeted, proportionate, transparent, temporary, and consistent with the WTO rules so as not to unnecessarily restrict trade within the region.
The ministers encourage pursuit of facilitative measures that will expedite economic rebound from this crisis. They also recognize the importance of facilitating essential movement of business people across borders and therefore encourage their governments to establish, at the national level and on a voluntary basis, relevant guidelines that would allow, in the event of global health crises, essential cross-border travel, on an exceptional basis, in accordance with national policies, laws and regulations, and without undermining efforts to prevent the spread of the virus and safeguard public health during the pandemic.
To that, the economic leaders welcome efforts to effectively utilize the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve to overcome possible food shortages and help ensure food security in the region during emergencies. They will also endeavour to exchange information regarding the production and trade of essential medical supplies in order to support the initiative to explore the possibility of developing regional stockpiling of such goods.
The ministers will support businesses, particularly the micro, small and medium enterprises and the vulnerable economic sectors. They encourage them to make use of the digital economy and technologies to allow them to continue operations and repurpose their capacities to meet new needs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
They underscore the importance of facilitating cross-border transfer of information and data by electronic means for the development of the digital economy, as well as to strengthen consumer and business trust in the digital economy, while respecting both domestic and international legal frameworks and support ongoing negotiations on electronic commerce at the WTO.
In addition, the ministers encourage close coordination, especially among the customs agencies, to continue promoting trade facilitation measures, especially at land borders, taking into account the standards and recommendations of the World Customs Organization and the provisions of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. They will keep working closely with all partners in the global and regional supply chains to accelerate relevant procedures at the border so as to facilitate and promote the development of cross-border trade.
The economic leaders affirmed will work together to restore economic growth in the region by enhancing regional trade and economic cooperation through, among others, addressing trade barriers, promotion of trade and investment, and expansion of the fields of cooperation. They remain committed to the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) in 2020, and working together to resolve India’ outstanding issues in a mutually satisfactory way, as mandated in the Joint Leaders’ Statement on the RCEP issued in 2019.
Commenting on the meeting, trade minister of Indonesia, Agus Suparmanto rated, the joint statement of the ASEAN+3 will be able to give directives at senior economic official level in implementing them into the Action Plan.
Written by Staff Editor, Email: theinsiderstories@gmail.com
