UNCTAD secretary-general calls for closer economic cooperation in Northeast Asia

Supachai Panitchpakdi, secretary general on United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) called for Northeast Asian counties to strengthen economic cooperation to foster prosperous regional integration.

It would not only help promote economic development of the countries, but also help them weather financial crises, such as that experienced by Southeast Asia in the late 1990s, said the former director-general of World Trade Organization (WTO) at the Northeast Asia Economic Cooperation Forum, which opened on Saturday in Changchun, capital of northeastern Jilin Province.

Northeast Asia was performing brilliantly in trade, investment, and development, and its potential is bright for continuing regional integration and poverty reduction. However, for such integration to be more effective, there is a need to deepen the cooperation, said Supachai Panitchpakdi.

According to an UNCTAD report, the six countries of the region, including China, Russia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Mongolia, account for 21 percent of world exports and 16 percent of imports. The interregional trade growth nearly doubled from 2000 to 2004 to 320.7 billion U. S. dollars and over the past five years the trade has accounted for almost 40 percent of all Asian trade.

The region has plentiful natural resources, such as gas, oil, minerals, water and timber, which has made it a magnet for investment, both global and regional, with foreign direct investment inflows soaring from about 61 billion U. S. dollars in 2000 to 88 billion U. S. dollars in 2004.

However, despite increasing number of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements, Northeast Asia gas been lagging behind over the past 30 years in terms of formal regional economic links as it suffered from an "organization gap" compared to Europe, the Americas, Africa and even the Gulf countries, said UNCTAD secretary-general.

"The question is how can the Northeast Asia countries use their interdependence and complementarity to exploit their collective potential," he said.

The governments of the countries need to implement a sound investment policy regime, facilitate the cross-border movement of goods and people and improve the macroeconomic and business environment, said Supachai Panitchpakdi.

As a quick-start measure, the countries could focus on bringing best practice standards to existing special economic and development zones, he said.

In addition, the Northeast Asian counties were suggested to address tariffs and remove trade barriers to achieve substantial export gains, according to Supachai Panitchpakdi, adding UNCTAD would like to provide assistance on negotiating trade and investment agreement, preparing for WTO accession and personnel training.

More than 500 officials and experts from United Nations, the European Union and Northeast Asian counties would discuss the regional economic cooperation in Northeast Asia at the three-day forum, a major event of the Second China Jilin Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo.

Source: Xinhua