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SINGAPORE - Southeast Asian nations and China aim to finalise an investment agreement by December, completing a free trade deal that already covers goods and services, the two sides said Thursday.
In a statement issued after meetings between economic ministers from ASEAN and China, they said "substantive progress" has been made on the ASEAN-China Investment Agreement.
Ministers "underscored the importance of concluding the Agreement" by December when the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) holds its annual summit in Bangkok.
The investment pact is one of three components of a free trade deal between ASEAN and China.
Agreements covering trade in goods and trade in services were reached in 2004 and 2006.
"The ministers were confident that the ASEAN-China FTA (Free Trade Area) remains a regional trading arrangement of some global significance given the magnitude of trade between the parties, which accounted for 13.7 percent of global trade or almost half of Asia's total trade in 2007," the statement said.
"The review reaffirmed the strong trade ties between the parties and the prospects for enhanced trade flows in the coming years as more tranches of tariff reductions come on stream."
ASEAN is forging free trade pacts with key regional economies, including booming China and India, to ensure the bloc of about 550 million people is not sidelined economically.
ASEAN itself aims to achieve a single market and manufacturing base by 2015 to raise its profile in the face of competition from China and India. - AFP/vm
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