Asean
Asian Nations Push new Ideas for Trade
Japan and China laid out competing visions of how to create a European Union-style trade bloc in Asia at a regional summit here Sunday, with China pushing for stronger ties with its trading partners in Southeast Asia while Japan held open the door for the U.S. to play a role in a proposed East Asia regional trade group.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama were careful not to clash too visibly at the two-day meeting in this Thai seaside town.
The leaders supported each other’s efforts to strengthen economic ties in the region, which is recovering from the global economic slump much faster than Europe and the U.S. Both agreed that an EU-style union was a long-term objective to reduce Asia’s dependence on U.S. consumers rather than an immediate goal, with Japanese diplomatic officials saying the final entity could be as many as 20 years away.
Tourism
Can border reopening revive tourism in South-East Asia?
In Thailand, where pre-pandemic tourism accounted for 11-12% of GDP, the country lost an estimated $50bn last year as Covid-19 restrictions led to an 82% fall in arrival numbers.
After 18 months of travel restrictions, a number of countries in South-east Asia have begun opening their borders to foreign visitors to stoke recovery in their respective tourism industries.
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ASEAN and Russia recently agreed to enhance and widen economic cooperation at the 10th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM)-Russia Consultations held in September 2021, including by adopting a revised ASEAN-Russia Trade and Investment Cooperation Work Program for the 2021-25 period.
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