ASEAN has scored 85% for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Scorecard, a quantified measure on the progress to realize the ASEAN economic integration by Y 2015.
Although a 100% score was yet to be achieved, ASEAN had done well by achieving 85%, said Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed on Sunday following the conclusion of the 16th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Retreat. According to earlier report, the official figure was 72%. For detailed ASEAN information visit www.aseanaffairs.com

Mustapa said there was progress in the last few weeks, and there had not been any major shortcomings and failures towards achieving the Community goal.

The participants focused their discussions on ASEAN centrality and ways to promote ASEAN as a single entity, especially when facilitating trade and investment into the region.

Mustapa reiterated the need for ASEAN member states to comply with and implement their commitments on a timely basis.

He also voiced his concerns over ASEAN member countries adopting new trade measures which were deemed to be trade restrictive by the private sector, while proposing a more structural mechanism for ministers to consult and discuss concerns related to non-tariff barriers. You can follow ASEAN’s progress at LTN weekly where we have feature articles on the overall Community. Stay Tuned…Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr. www.livetradingnews.com

Posted by Shayne Heffernan on Mar 1st, 2010and filed underAsia, Latest News, News & Events.You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site