ASEAN and CER (Closer Economic Relations - Australia and New Zealand) agreed Monday to boost implementation of cooperation projects, and facilitate negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA).

Senior economic officials (SEOM) from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the two countries agreed that they would continue to implement cooperation projects, mainly in the field of capacity building, and that the third negotiation for the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA will take place next month in Australia's capital Canberra, Bounsom Phommavihane, Deputy Director General of the Foreign Trade Department under Laos' Commerce Ministry and Chairman of the SEOM-CER consultation, said at a press briefing after the meeting.

"The negotiations on the FTA began in February 2005, and would be completed within two years," he said, noting that leaders of ASEAN and CER in 2004 agreed to promote the ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand economic partnerships by launching negotiations for it.

At the consultation, Australia pledged to financially assist Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar in human resource development, especially training negotiators for FTA negotiations, he said, noting that the three countries are facing financial constraints.

ASEAN and CER have witnessed high growths in bilateral trade and investment in recent years. The two-way trade surged by 33 percent from 20.7 billion US dollars in 2002 to nearly 27.6 billion US dollars in 2003, according to the ASEAN Secretariat.

CER's foreign direct investment in ASEAN stood at 3.1 billion US dollars in 2003, up from 1.8 billion US dollars in 2002. The respective figures for ASEAN's foreign direct investment in CER were some 4.9 billion dollars and 3.9 billion dollars.

The 37th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) meeting will be held from Sept. 28-30 in Laos' capital Vientiane.

The 10-member ASEAN has a population of about 500 million, a total area of 4.5 million square kilometers, a combined gross domestic product of 737 billion dollars, and a total trade of 720 billion dollars.

Source: Xinhua