APOLOGIES....

the page is not appearing as i would want it to something strange is going on!!

FW: COMMENTARY: A World of Nation-Blocs -->a rather skewed and trade-centred view of regional integration...

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From: E.K.Bensah II[mailto:webjournalist@twnafrica.org]
Sent: lundi 17 juillet 2006 14:26
Subject: COMMENTARY: A World of Nation-Blocs -->a rather skewed and trade-centred view of regional integration...

 

Hi,

It’s amazing that people (still) write like this…

The article is, first of all, very trade centred: “What are America’s plans—to remain sovereign or join a government community of nations? It is simple to understand the advantages of a trading bloc patterned after the European Union. Businesses will save a lot of money in the free trade zones and there will be a rule of law and plenty of security”

The writer makes believe that the EU is the precursor of regional integration, and that other regions will emulate them. Ok, so, the AU modelled itself on the EU, but that is besides the point. Besides, he makes no mention of the other sub-regional organisations on the continent—most of which we know, instead maintaining “A whole list of African nations has formed AEC, COMESA, and SACU”!!

 His points are these:

1.      if the US joins the “government community of nations”, it might lose its superpower status, which would be bad for the country

2.      the UN is “waning” , and will face “extinction in this new age”

3.      “It is likely that the major holdovers from the UN will be the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as money will always be needed for governments and trade”

Try to enjoy if you can;-)

Emmanuel

COMMENTARY: A World of Nation-Blocs
 
By Tom Proebsting
Special to HNN
 
Moberly, MO (HNN) -- The Roman Empire was the last world government and world economy. Rome’s government ruled all of civilization as its superior army, scattered strategically throughout its subjects’ lands, secured the empire. Trade took place worldwide with merchants traveling by land and sea to barter and vend. The world empire resisted the persistent attacks from outsiders for one thousand years. The western section of the empire, Europe, finally fell to German invaders around 500 A.D.
 
The Early Middle Ages (500 to 1050) was characterized by decreased centralized government and slackened trade. Each town or village governed itself. Agriculture, grown by and sold to primarily the townspeople, was the main staple. By around 1200, the Agricultural Revolution started and the result was that crops improved, populations increased, and towns grew. Trade increased in volume and in distances as the decades passed.
 
By the 1600’s the Renaissance and Enlightenment hit Europe full force. Kings and queens ruled empires and nations, such as Great Britain and France. Cities and nation-states flourished and trade spread to all corners of the earth. By the 1700’s, great trading enterprises sold agriculture to customers near and far. By the 1800’s, the Industrial Revolution arrived and international firms sold new machinery and mechanical inventions the world over.
 
During the last sixty years there has been an occurrence not seen since the days of the Roman Empire. Six nations formed the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951. It proceeded to grow into the European Union (EU) which has 25 member nations at present. The EU elects its own president and has executive, legislative and judicial branches. They have formed their own military, have a common currency, and their borders are more or less porous. When the EU started, it centered on economic factors. The governmental and security details followed.
 
Other nations around the world are also forming economic communities or trading nation-blocs. America is a member of NAFTA and CAFTA. Several nations in South America are members of Mercosur and Andean. Several countries in southern and Southeast Asia have joined ASEAN and SAARC. A whole list of African nations has formed AEC, COMESA, and SACU. China and Russia, along with four Central Asian nations make up the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. These are merely a few of the new blocs around the world. The Technology/Information Revolution revved up in the last 25 years and has connected the earth’s citizens by computer and phone with the added bonus of possessing any needed information at our fingertips. One of the effects is that trade today is increasing in all areas, agricultural, industrial, and technological.
 
The United Nations is currently not a major factor in unifying the world’s nations as it spends a lot of time battling its own inefficiencies and demons. It was created to form and lead countries through the Post World War Two era of which the Cold War was a major factor. Many historical analysts believe this period ended with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. We have entered a new, but yet undefined, age. The United Nations is now showing the signs of waning and extinction in this new age. It appears to be an idea whose time has come and gone. It is likely that the major holdovers from the UN will be the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as money will always be needed for governments and trade.
 
Can we expect the world’s trading nation-blocs to set up executive, legislative, and judicial branches, complete with their own military just as the EU did? We can peek into the future today. Many South American citizens have desired some type of a federation between its nations since the days of Simon Bolivar. Two trading blocs, Mercosur and Andean, plan to merge next year into the South American Community of Nations (CSN). They seek to model their new community after the European Union, complete with a central bank, common currency, parliament, and common passport.
 
What other nations may decide to pattern their trading blocs after the EU? Will Asian or African nations duplicate the European Union? What are America’s plans—to remain sovereign or join a government community of nations? It is simple to understand the advantages of a trading bloc patterned after the European Union. Businesses will save a lot of money in the free trade zones and there will be a rule of law and plenty of security.
 
America must decide on a course which will take it in the direction we need to go in the twenty-first century. A sovereign America may offer the best decision for our future as it has always put us on top. The pros and cons of any other direction must be assiduously plotted and thought out.
 
* * *
 
Tom Proebsting is a writer and blogger in Missouri. Tom Proebsting, 823 N. Ault St. Moberly, MO 65270
 
e-mail: truthprobe777@yahoo.com
 
Proebsting invites comments. Reply to: http://truthprobe.blogspot.com

From: http://www.huntingtonnews.net/columns/060709-proebsting-comment.html

Week of 26/6/06: RegionsWatch News: ECOWAS Airline in the Offing; ASEAN Looks Inwards; Bilateral Issues dominate OAS

comments would be much appreciated! have a good weekend!:-)

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Week of 26/6/06                                                                             Edition#1

 

Dear RegionsWatcher,

 

 

Efforts to promote regional integration are, at best, problematic; and at worst, headache-inducing.

 

Problematic, because whilst others are trying to collaborate, bilateral issues—as exemplified by article#3 crop up. The genesis? Well, at the OAS General assembly held at the beginning of June, bilateral disputes dominated, with Venezuela taking the cup for the country being targeted for interfering in other regional neighbour’s domestic pie. First of all, Peru was complaining that Chavez of Venezuela was interfering in Peru’s presidential campaign; the second complaint originated from Nicaragua, which was complaining that Chavez, yet again, was “meddling in its internal politics ahead of presidential elections to be held later this year.”

 

Now, Argentina, one of the MERCOSUR heavyweights, has lodged a complaint with the regional organisation that Uruguay is planning to “build pulp mills on the River Uruguay”, and this will send polluted water to Argentina. Argentina is said to have filed a complaint at the Hague-based International Court of Justice in May to block the plan, “but some OAS officials have said they hope the dispute could be handled by the organisation.”

 

The third major complaint from the OAS General Assembly is from Bolivia, an associated member of MERCOSUR that “is expected to press for the return of coastal land lost to Chile in a war in the 1800s.”

 

I guess you could look at the bright side, and argue that that they are complaining suggests they want old issues resolved before they move full steam on the regional aspects.

 

Let’s switch to the other side of the world—to ASIA—for a second before we come to Africa, where some interesting things are happening.

 

If articles#8 and 6 are anything to go by, we can definitely see that world-wide, regional initiatives are the talk of the town—and no less than in Russia, where Putin is looking to the so-called Shangai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) for “introducing new patterns for successful international cooperation.”

 

Russian premier Putin maintains the SCO, which groups RUSSIA, CHINA, KAZAKHSTAN, KRYGYZSTAN, TAJIKISTAN, and UZBEKISTAN, is becoming an “influential regional organisation”—especially as, in his view, it is fast becoming “an important factor for maintaining stability in Eurasia since its establishment five years ago.”

 

Putin has hailed “multilateral cooperation”, and more collaborative efforts to push forward the regional in that region so as to combat the menace of “terrorism, separatism and religions extremism.” The fight against drug trafficking is also slated to be one of the issues that will unite the SCO in their fight to make it an effective regional organisation.

 

The Observers of SCO are SAARC members Pakistan and India; and Iran, and Mongolia. As the article maintains, “economic cooperation” and “cooperation among enterprises and financial institutions”—terms that often represent the platitude of regional integration –- are evidently high on the SCO’s agenda. And, no surprise here, the private sector is also seen as the quintessential engine of boosting the region to greater heights.

 

As for ASEAN (article#6), the regional body’s Singaporean chief, Ong Keng Yong, said earlier this month during a meeting with Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai “that he views Nikai’s idea of concluding a free trade agreement between the 10 ASEAN members” very positively.

 

The need to “accelerate” FTA talks between Japan and ASEAN were also discussed “so as to promote economic integration in East Asia.” It has been a year since the talks started, and come March 2007, they ought to have concluded.

 

Not at all bad for ASEAN which will be celebrating a good sixty years of its existence next year!

 

Now article#5 is more of a reminder about how SDT, or Special and Differential Treatment in Asia might just suffer a bit of a setback, given the advice being given by a Chinese researcher on Chinese companies in southern china.

 

His research suggests that it is better for Chinese companies in southern China to “look at investing in other Asian countries where he says start-up costs and wages are much lower than on the mainland.” Now, whilst China is going round the world—recently being in some selected African countries—trying to shore up support so that its putative appetite for markets, oil and countries to dump its cheap goods can be satiated, it is important to note that this year, the country itself will be concluding negotiations on a CHINA-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

 

According to the article, China “will also provide developing countries with 10 billion US dollars worth of preferential loans, one third of which” will go to ASEAN countries.

 

Now, Africa could be described as the continent with the least problematic and headache-inducing regional integration efforts—in the sense that the regional organisations are pretty much well-established already, with some being 30 years old (ECOWAS),and others being 11 years (COMESA) old. What is not quite working is the role of the private sector—that is if article#2 is anything to go by.

 

The article suggests that when it comes to COMESA, Zimbabwe is quite zealous about promoting industry: “if Zimbabwe’s balance of trade is to improve, it must adopt a high level of aggressiveness with the business sector taking advantage of the opportunities that arise from regional integration to increase exports.” This seems rather anathema to a country that, some while back, was extolling the virtues of nationalising its mining sector—much to the chagrin of the voracious and rapacious multinational mining companies

 

Truth be told, Zimbabwe is a founding member of the FTA that was established in October 2000 with the regional grouping of COMESA. Libya “has expressed a willingness to join the FTA next month.”  Before 2000, the article maintains, the country enjoyed a positive balance with COMESA. In 2005, however, its import bill sky-rocketed to US$641.6 million, while its exports declined considerably, resulting in a negative trade balance. Small wonder, therefore, that the Deputy Minister of Industry and International Trade, Mr. Phineas Chihota, wants the private sector to be involved.

 

What can be said rather emphatically about the ECOWAS region and the private sector is that the regions’ indigenous private sector has worked rather well.

 

So well, in fact, that the region might just have its regional airline—ECOAIR—(article#1) ready by 2007, after news of its creation was announced in the Senegalese capital of Dakar in 2005. This is what Gervais Djodo, chairman of the board of directors of SPCAR (Society for the promotion of a regional air transport company) was earlier this month.

 

The initiative, the article maintains, “was launched with the strong support of the ECOWAS investment and development bank and other financial institutions (as BCEAO and WADB), [and] involves partners including the Association of SADC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSCI)…”

 

The whole objective behind a regional airline in fact stems from the fact that international/foreign companies dominate the African skies. Now, whilst the Yamoussoukro Declaration exists, constituting “an opportunity for integration to facilitate the free movement of peoples and commodities”, whilst simultaneously not being “in the interest of foreign air companies, eager to retain their quasi-monopoly on the Africa aviation market, of which they control 75%”, the implementation of Yamoussoukro might just be that element that would redress the imbalance of foreign operators in favour of African air companies.

 

If a regional airline flows from that, all the better for West Africa!

 

 

Happy Regions Watching!

Emmanuel.K.Bensah

RegionsWatch Creator/Editor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ARTICLES

 

1. West Africa expects new regional airline in 2007
2. Chihota Hails Comesa FTA's Efforts to Promote Investments
3. Bilateral Issues Take Center Stage at OAS General Assembly
4. Black Sea Region States United by Commitment to Common System of Values
5. South China regions told investing in ASEAN territories cheaper than at home
6. ASEAN chief backs Nikai's proposal on E. Asia-wide FTA, policy body
7. Mandelson: ‘June decisive for WTO talks’
8. Putin hails SCO as new mode of international cooperation

 

1.      West Africa expects new regional airline in 2007

From: http://news.africast.com/africastv/article.php?newsID=58896

DAKAR, June 05 -- The new West African airline company, whose creation was announced in Dakar in 2005 will be operational in 2007, according to Gervais Djondo, chairman of the board of directors of SPCAR (society for the Promotion of a regional air transport company).

SPCAR, which is responsible for setting up the company, has started working to make this ambitious project a reality. The aim is not only to fill the vacuum left by Air Afrique`s disintegration, but essentially also to compensate for the dearth in air traffic between the various regions of the continent.

This initiative, launched with the strong support of the ECOWAS investment and development bank and other financial institutions (as BCEAO and WADB), involves partners including the Association of SADC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSCI) and does not exclude the participation of other companies operating in Africa.

"With the support of the African Airlines Associations (AFRAA), we were able to build fruitful relations with the major African air companies and several presidents of companies have vowed to offer their assistance whenever necessary," Djondo told PANA here in an interview.

While insisting on the creation of regional companies and the grouping of small African air carriers, the Tunis meeting on the African air transport sector paved the way for Air Afrique` successor.

"The assistance of African States is indispensable to us. We cannot realise our ambition if we lack political support," the chairman of SPCAR`s board said, as he expressed awareness about difficulties to penetrate the African air market, where liberalisation still lags.

Though the Yamoussoukro Decision was adopted in 2000 by the heads of States to liberalise the African sky, it continues to encounter obstacles despite several appeals by AFRAA to States to ensure effective implementation of that their commitment.

A decisive step was later made in Tunis, following the intervention of Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, insisted on the necessity to make an assessment in every country in order to identify the various factors hindering implementation of the decision.

"The Yamoussoukro Decision is a positive development. It constitutes an opportunity for integration to facilitate the free movement of peoples and commodities," Djondo stressed in support of Konare`s suggestion that "every single party transcends its national egoistic interests".

The Yamoussoukro Decision does not seem to be in the interest of foreign air companies, eager to retain their quasi-monopoly on the Africa aviation market, of which they control 75%, the rest being left to African operators.

The implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision as well as incentives for the creation of regional groups of African operators appear as decisive factors when it comes to the development of a continental network by African operators, whose share in the market has propescts for growth.

To attain this result, intensive campaigns have been launched by the African Airlines Associations (AFRAA) among its members in order to invite them to pursue collective action in their discussions aiming at the adoption of air agreements with third party operators.

"The domination of the African sky by foreign carriers has worsened after the air transportation agreements signed at the level of the European Union," observed Christian Folly-Kossi, AFRAA secretary general.

He believes "the continental market should be controlled by African air companies".

The campaign yielded positive results, as the Tunis plan of action acknowledges the necessity "to negotiate with the European Union transitional measures relating to the implementation of the community clause," before the end of the current year.

A negotiation strategy reinforcing the African policy in the field of aviation and relating to air agreements with third parties would allow the adoption, in 2008, of directives for negotiations between African and third party States. - ANGOP

2. Chihota Hails Comesa FTA's Efforts to Promote Investments
from: http://allafrica.com/stories/200606050899.html

The Herald (Harare)
NEWS
June 5, 2006
Posted to the web June 5, 2006
Harare

THE Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Free Trade Area (FTA) has created a huge economic space with large investments and trade potential for member states.

The Deputy Minister of Industry and International Trade, Mr Phineas Chihota, commented that the Government appreciates the efforts being put in place by industry to prepare for the impending deeper form of integration in the Comesa region. "As the Government, we are aware that collective effort is best for the stabilisation and growth of the economy. "When Comesa was established in 1994, one of its objectives was the removal of structural and institutional weaknesses of member states so that they are able to attain collective and sustained economic development," said the deputy minister during a ZNCC workshop in Harare last week.

The region has made significant strides, and hence the unlocking of opportunities for its members to boost trade and strengthen economic relations. The regional grouping established a Free Trade Area in October 2000. Zimbabwe is a founder member of the FTA. Libya has expressed a willingness to join the FTA next month. The trade bloc offers producers and manufacturers an enlarged market with over 380 million people and intra-Comesa trade has grown at an average of 7 percent every year since the establishment of the FTA, with a higher increase reflected among the intra-FTA member states. However, despite such an opportunity, Zimbabwe's share of intra-Comesa exports has declined while imports from the region have risen sharply.

Prior to 2000, Zimbabwe enjoyed a positive balance of trade with Comesa. In 2005, however, Zimbabwe's import bill shot to US $641,6 million, while its exports declined from US$271,6 million to US$192,8 million, which reflected that Zimbabwe had a negative balance of trade of US$448,8 million, in which the business community should push exports and improve the balance of trade. If Zimbabwe's balance of trade is to improve, it must adopt a high level of aggressiveness with the business sector taking advantage of the opportunities that arise from regional integration to increase exports. Anything short of this will result in the country increasing its import bill culminating in a negative balance of trade.

"I would like to take this opportunity to challenge the business community to attack the Comesa market and indeed other markets, with vigour," said the deputy minister. He added that, the ministry of industry is ready to partner with the private sector and develop a collective approach to export market development. This will lead to a number of trade missions to Kenya, Zambia, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Venezuela, China, Vietnam, South Korea and Malaysia. The deputy minister urged those wishing to join these trade missions with a view to marketing their products to liaise with his ministry's Department of International Trade.

The ministry will soon launch the National Export Strategy whose objective is to boost value added exports. The deputy minister called on the private sector to complement Government policy on industrial development as well as advising the Governmen t on the way forward for industrial revival and development. The next milestone on Comesa's integration agenda is the transformation of the FTA into a customs union by 2008, characterised by deeper integration and the merger of customs territories into a single customs territory. This will see countries agreeing to eliminate tariffs and other restrictive regulations on trade to create a more conducive trading environment.

At the regional level, Comesa has adopted a harmonised system of commodity, that is the common tariff nomenclature to ensure the smooth functioning of the customs union. To regulate the flow of trade into, within and out of the union, there is need for a common basis for customs legislation and procedures. Already member states have developed a draft customs management Act that is currently being finalised and by so doing Zimbabwe, through the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, has participated actively in the drafting of this Act.

Negotiations on the common exter nal tariff (CET), a prerequisite for a customs union, are also underway. Member states have agreed to levy lower tariffs of 0-5 percent on raw materials. This will have a positive impact on the stimulation of investment activities and industrial growth. "For those industries that are producing and exporting raw materials, this means more competition," said Minister Chihota.

Copyright © 2006 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).

 

3.

Bilateral Issues Take Center Stage at OAS General Assembly From: http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-06-05-voa5.cfm
By Brian Wagner Santo Domingo 05 June 2006

 

Foreign ministers from the Americas have gathered in Dominican Republic for the general assembly of the Organization of American States. The agenda includes discussions of measures for improving economic and social conditions across the region. But the talks are dominated by bilateral disputes among OAS member states.

Official photo of foreign ministers from 34 countries that are participating in the XXXVI General Assembly the Organization of American States in Santo Sunday, June 4, 2006

Officials from the 34-nation Organization of American States are holding a series of meetings to discuss regional initiatives and bilateral concerns. The main theme of the meeting is good government and development in the knowledge-based society.

OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza told delegates in Santo Domingo that a major concern is the lack of technological resources in many nations in Latin America and the Caribbean. He says expanding access to technology is a key step to improving education, governance and other social conditions. He also recognized recent disputes between some member states because of differences over trade, politics or human rights issues.

Mr. Insulza said OAS members should be able to overcome their differences on trade issues and continue to advance regional integration, while recognizing each other's differences and holding a respectful debate.

One issue already dominating the OAS talks is Peru's complaint that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez interfered in Peru's presidential election campaign. Peru accused Mr. Chavez of intervening on behalf of nationalist candidate, Ollanta Humala.

Peru's Foreign Minister Oscar Maurtua said his delegation has been asking OAS leadership to respond to its concerns. He says the Peruvian delegation has reaffirmed its position of serious concern about Venezuela's clear interference in Peru. He adds that the Chief of the Electoral Observation Mission for the Organization of American States, Lloyd Axworthy, has also criticized the Venezuelan leader's comments. The Peruvian delegates say they are still awaiting a response from top OAS officials about their complaints.

Nicaragua has also accused President Chavez of meddling in its internal politics ahead of presidential elections to be held later this year.

Another issue expected to draw attention at the general assembly is Argentina's complaint that Uruguay's plans to build pulp mills on the River Uruguay will send polluted water to Argentina. Argentina filed a complaint at the International Court of Justice last month to block the plan, but some OAS officials have said they hope the dispute could be handled within the organization.

Also at the meeting, Bolivia is expected to press for the return of coastal land lost to Chile in a war in the 1800s.

 

4. Black Sea Region States United by Commitment to Common System of Values

From: http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=18308

 

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Countries of the Black Sea region have rich and at the same time dramatic history of co-existence,” Armenian President Robert Kocharian stated when addressing Black Sea Forum for Dialogue and Partnership. “The Black Sea has always been a center of strategic interest. This led to many devastating wars that have formed its current political map, ethnic and religious diversity. However, this all has also resulted in substantial interrelation of our cultures and traditions. Partially that is why there are so many similarities in the process of transformation underway in our countries. This is true in case with the internal transformation, aimed at deepening of democracy and transparency of the society. This also influences the shaping of new types of foreign interactions in the context of the changing world.

We are present at the formation of new dynamic processes, changing the region, forming new perceptions about it. Two objective questions come across: how possible is a common direction of development of the region? Will this lead to the formation of the new regional identity, based on a common interest and inherited cultural interaction? Our Forum is called to address these challenging issues,” the Armenian leader remarked.

“We shall first evaluate the level of motivation in each country of the region. Secondly, we shall work out approaches increasing our mutual will for partnership. For Armenia, with limited natural resources and emphasized entrepreneurial mentality of the people, the choice was clear. Transformation for us primarily meant the liberalization of economy, open trade regimes, and a competitive environment. These reforms substantially changed the structure of Armenian economy. Today over 85 per cent of GDP is produced in private sector, with over 40 per cent of it being produced in small and medium businesses. Annual growth of GDP during last five years has averaged at above 12 per cent. It is natural, that we watch openness and regional cooperation as the most effective way for our development. Only lazy people do not speak about benefits of regional cooperation. It is an axiom, which however comes across many obstacles, which are often of a subjective nature. There is a need for pragmatic evaluation of the positive and negative realities.

Let us first assess what unites us:
- Commitment to a common system of values and readiness to play along the same rules.
- Obvious, tangible economic benefit of regional integration processes.
- Common challenges and threats to the stability and security caused by the increasing transnational crime, extremism and terrorism.

Meanwhile, we are divided by:
- Unresolved ethnic conflicts,
- Certain deficit of trust, caused by the negative experiences of the history of the region.

I am confident that we shall concentrate on those elements which unite us. We shall take steps to harmonize our reforms, achieve unification of trade regimes and transportation tariffs. There is a need for joint investment projects in the infrastructures of the region. First of all, for energy and transportation projects, covering the entire Black Sea basin, and increasing its economic attractiveness. This will create favorable environment for resolution of existing conflicts. Through cooperation to the settlement, through communication to a bigger trust – that is the best formula for overcoming the controversies, based on a search for a common interest,” Robert Kocharian said, reported RA leader’s press office.

 

 

5.  South China regions told investing in ASEAN territories cheaper than at home

From: http://english.people.com.cn/200606/05/print20060605_271197.html

A Chinese researcher suggests Chinese companies in southern China look at investing in other Asian countries where he says start-up costs and wages are much lower than on the mainland.

Addressing a recent forum for businesses in the Pan Pearl River Delta, You Aiqiong, a researcher with the Guangdong Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, says that with a shortage of migrant workers in Guangdong, labor-intensive businesses should take the advantage of a new investment agreement being negotiated between China and ASEAN.

You cited a research by Hong Kong Exporters' Chamber of Commerce which showed that launching a garment factory with 1,000 workers in Viet Nam would require an investment between 6 million and 7 million Hong Kong dollars. The same factory would cost several times that amount if it were on China's mainland.

The Pan Pearl River delta region encompasses Hong Kong, Macao and nine mainland provinces and autonomous regions accounting for one fifth of the country's territory, and one third of China's population.

This year China is expected to conclude negotiations on a China-ASEAN Free Trade Area. It will also provide developing countries with 10 billion U.S. dollars worth of preferential loans, one third of which will go to ASEAN nations, said You.

Moreover, the Chinese Government will add an extra five billion U.S. dollars worth of preferential loans to support Chinese companies investing in member nations of the ASEAN.

Source: Xinhua

6. ASEAN chief backs Nikai's proposal on E. Asia-wide FTA, policy body

FROM: http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060614/kyodo/d8i80keg1.html

Kyodo) _ The chief of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressed support Wednesday for the Japanese trade minister's offer of setting up a free trade area in East Asia and a regional policy coordination body modeled after the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Japanese officials said.

Visiting ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong said during a meeting with Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai that he views Nikai's idea of concluding a free trade agreement between the 10 ASEAN members, Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand positively, they said.

Ong also said ASEAN will support the establishment of the regional policy proposal body by drafting a road map to realize the long-term goal, they added.

The head of the Southeast Asian regional body met with Nikai ahead of the two-day World Economic Forum on East Asia in Tokyo from Thursday.

The Singaporean chief of the Jakarta-based ASEAN secretariat also stressed the importance of accelerating FTA talks between Japan and the regional body as a whole so as to promote economic integration in East Asia, the officials said.

Japan has been in official FTA talks with ASEAN since April last year and the two sides aim to conclude negotiations by March 2007.

Nikai suggested that as the first step to launching the regional policy coordination entity, a research center should be set up somewhere in ASEAN counties, they said.

The minister also called on ASEAN to incorporate Japanese investors' voices in the regional policy making process, they said.

Ong was quoted as saying the upcoming economic ministers' meetings of ASEAN and its regional partners slated for August in Kuala Lumpur would be a good occasion to discuss Nikai's proposals.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

7. Mandelson: ‘June decisive for WTO talks’

From: http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200606/8bece867-f855-425b-bf2c-e595e2f70e15.htm

 

Europe and its trading partners must speed up the pace of global talks ahead of key elections in the US and Brazil, according to Peter Mandelson. 

“The electoral agenda in the US and Brazil risks undermining the Doha round if no progress has been achieved by the end of the month” the EU trade commissioner told the French press.

General elections in Brazil in October and mid-term elections in the US in November could see a shift in both countries’ negotiating position.

In particular, there are fears that a change to the balance of power in the US Congress could seriously undermine Washington’s stance.

“I believe President Bush is committed to finding an agreement and that his administration is aware of the benefits expected from the Doha round,” Mandelson said.

“But Congress is less convinced, preferring to focus on agricultural issues.”

“I think, however, that priority must be given to the economic dimension of the agreement rather than to narrower political considerations.”

Global trade talks remain stalled after WTO members failed to reach an agreement on trade liberalisation last April.

Agriculture has been the main stumbling block, with the EU and the US both accused of protecting their markets by developing nations.

“The EU will have to prove flexible if it wants to speed up the round,” Mandelson said.

But he stressed: “I have not made any new proposal and do not plan to do so in order to respect the mandate I was given by European countries.”

The EU is also negotiating bilateral agreements with South Korea and the Asean countries.

“Bilateral agreements are convenient tools to cover areas not falling within the scope of the WTO,” Mandelson said.

“However, they should not be seen as a substitute for multilateralism.”

 

8. Putin hails SCO as new mode of international cooperation

From: http://english.people.com.cn/200606/14/eng20060614_273750.html

Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as introducing new patterns for successful international cooperation.

Putin made the remarks in an article published on the eve of the SCO's 2006 summit to be held on Thursday in Shanghai, China. The summit will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the group's establishment.

Terming the SCO as an "influential regional organization," Putin said the SCO, which groups Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, has become an important factor for maintaining stability in Eurasia since its establishment five years ago.

Countries in the region have long realized the importance of joining forces to meet new challenges faced by them, Putin said. Only on the basis of multilateral cooperation and through their own efforts, can peace and economic development in the region be guaranteed, he said.

Reviewing the SCO's achievements in resolving the border problems among members, Putin elaborated on the organization's successful cooperation in a number of areas, including security, economy and culture.

Facing the menace of "the three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism, members of the SCO had had discussions on the importance of joining efforts in fighting terrorism and begun practical work on it long before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Putin said.

The member states already have effective means to counter the threat of terrorism, separatism and extremism, the president said, adding that the next move will be coordination and cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking.

Maintaining regional stability has been the focus of the member states' attention and extensive cooperation has been conducted among them in this regard, with emphasis being laid on coordinating actions and working out specific measures, the president said.

Putin also highlighted the SCO's cooperation with observer states, including India, Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia.

With an open approach toward dialogues, the SCO is ready to work together with other countries and organizations to promote peace, stability and development, Putin stressed.

Economic cooperation among the member states has become increasingly important to the SCO itself, Putin said.

There are huge potentials for effective and mutually beneficial cooperation in the region, he said, adding that people's standards of living in the region will be greatly improved through such cooperation.

Regional integration will help bring into full play the member states' competitive advantages in energy, resources supply and transportation, he said.

The SCO also places cooperation among enterprises and financial institutions high on the agenda, he added.

Within the framework of the SCO, humanistic and cultural exchanges have become increasingly active, Putin said.

The SCO has also accumulated rich experience in cultural exchanges and academic dialogue, and documents on educational cooperation are being drawn up, Putin said, adding that bilateral cooperation in tourism and sports should be extended to multilateral levels.

The SCO has set a model for equal partnership in Eurasia. The strategic aim of such an partnership is to enhance regional security and stability, promote economic progress and push forward the process of regional integration while maintaining the national and cultural identities of each member.

Based on "the Shanghai Spirit" characterized by mutual trust, openness and transparency, non-coercion and consensus, the SCO has laid down a solid foundation for making even greater contributions to efforts to resolve global issues in the present-day world, Putin said.

Source: Xinhua

 

 

weekof10april2006-thursday

happy easter!!

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Week of 10/4/06                                                                             Edition#1

 

Dear RegionsWatcher,

 

If this week’s entry were a song, I would probably commit a plagiarism by calling it “Big in Japan” after that 1982/3 hit by Alphaville.

 

No explanations really except to say that two articles—the first and the last—are predominantly about the growing desire of Japan to offset CHINA in its free-trade market promiscuity. So acute has the desire to beat the CHINESE been that the Japanese have seen it fit to establish what they call “the formation of a vast Asian economic free-trade zone that would cover about half the global population and rival the EU and Nafta markets.” This zone would comprise sixteen countries, including China and India.

 

The first reason given, if article one is anything to go by, is  in order to perform the platitudinous refrain that comes with regional integration: “accelerate East Asia’s economic integration”. It is estimated that the “combined economic output” would be 9.1 TRILLION US dollars. Let’s face it: this is not without reason, for this putative, or so-called, grouping would have, by way of population, a good 3bn people, which is just under half of the world’s population.

 

“Ambitious” is more than an understatement.

 

Already, Japan has concluded a number of economic partnership agreements, “which include not only free trade but also protection of intellectual property and other broader issues, with Singapore, Mexico and Malaysia”. So tells us AFP in article one.

 

As for the last article, entitled “New trade dan in land of rising sun”, we are given an insight into The [Australian} Age’s Deborah Cameron’s view of where Japan is going with these big ideas.

 

The article opens that Japan wants “Australia, New Zealand, China, India, and South-East Asia to join in an economic community that would eclipse one-to-one free trade pacts.”

 

While Australian officials, the article maintains, have expressed scepticism at the Japanese proposal, we, observers, are left to ruminate over the motivation for this deal. CHINA, CHINA, and more CHINA.

 

Even before the article touched on this, we oculd have guessed it for ourselves. After all, for how long have Japan and China not been competing with each other for goods and markets? While Japan has the “ferocious resistance of its agriculture ministry”, China has just simply gone ahead in a quasi-filibustering manner in a perfect epitome of what one observer called “market promiscuity”.

 

This is a strange game the two are playing, in RegionsWatch’s view, considering how pivotal both these two countries have been in dynamising the ASEAN region. No-one can deny the immense benefits the SMEs of both these two countries have brought to the ASEAN region. That they refuse to join ASEAN in a formal sense, one suspects, stems more from solipsistic desires of protecting their markets. By forming ASEAN-Plus groupings instead, they are able to maintain their quasi-hegemonic status in the region.

 

Article number two is a funny gem: India wanting to expand its ties with the ECOWAS region. This is interesting to note-not just because India is also keen to expand its hegemonic status and, by extension, its tentacles throughout Africa in the manner akin to the Chinese, but also because India is in itself very keen to join the ASEAN market in a special relationship. ASEAN , clearly, is all the rage these days.

 

Whilst the UN and its regional commissions meet over North African integration efforts (article#4), we can sigh a hugh sigh of relief that North Arfrica, thanks to the UN, is getting its act together-finally.

 

As for protests and Latin America, these days, the two are almost mutually exclusive. It is little wonder, therefore, that we find that protests have marred the meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank, a bank based in Washington D.C., seeking—so goes its mandate—to act as a “key source of funding for government projects while expanding loans to the private sector…”

 

If this article is anything to go by, it appears that much like the World Bank, the IDB is more a source of frustration than one of hope-building for regional integration efforts in the region.

 

Happy Regions Watching!

Emmanuel.K.Bensah

RegionsWatch Creator/Editor

 

 

 

ARTICLES

 

1. Japan pushes massive Asian free-trade zone
2. India to expand trade ties with West Africa
3. Violent protests disrupt IDB's opening ceremony
4. Experts meet on North African integration
5. New trade dawn in land of rising sun

 

1. Japan pushes massive Asian free-trade zone

From: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=80270&version=1&template_id=48&parent_id=28

 

Published: Wednesday, 5 April, 2006, 11:58 AM Doha Time

TOKYO: Japan said yesterday it will propose the formation of a vast Asian economic free-trade zone that would cover about half the global population and rival the EU and Nafta markets. The 16-nation proposal would include China and India, the world’s two fastest growing major economies, along with the 10-member Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) and Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. The push comes as Japan’s relations with its biggest trading partner China remain tense and it worries that it is slipping behind in securing bilateral free-trade pacts with Asian countries. Japan will propose starting negotiations in 2008 for the conclusion of the pact in 2010, Trade Minister Toshihiro Nikai told reporters. He is set to present the idea formally at a governmental economic council meeting on Friday. “The first reason for this is to accelerate East Asia’s economic integration which is already in the process of happening,” said trade ministry official Takeshi Fujimoto. The East Asian Economic Partnership Agreement could form a market larger than the North American Free Trade Agreement or European Union, grouping 3bn people or about half of the global population. Combined economic output would be $9.1tn, one quarter of the world figure, according to 2004 data. Some pundits were skeptical of such an ambitious plan in such a divided region, especially with China and South Korea ever mindful of Japan’s wartime record and quick to be suspicious of its motives. “There is no way this could be realised soon,” said Kenichi Odawara, an author and former professor of international politics and economy. “Plans for an East Asian community have come and gone many times in the past decades but the worst (problem) was Japan, which wanted to export industrial products while protecting its agriculture.” Odawara noted the Japanese plan “does not include Taiwan, whose economic presence is significant”, out of fear of angering Beijing which sees the island as an integral part of China. The top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday that Japan would propose the free-trade bloc as it has been lagging behind China and South Korea in concluding free trade pacts in the region. Fujimoto, the trade official, said Japan was not necessarily lagging behind but that “South Korea and China are active in drawing up strategies or setting up goals to form economic partnerships” in the region. “Japan should not be late in this trend and needs to lead economic integration in this region,” said Fujimoto, who is in charge of promoting economic partnerships with other nations. Japan has concluded economic partnership agreements which include not only free trade but also protection of intellectual property and other broader issues, with Singapore, Mexico and Malaysia. – AFP

 

Gulf Times Newspaper, 2006

2. India to expand trade ties with West Africa

From: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1477855.cms

 

NEW DELHI: India will discuss the expansion of its economic engagement with West African countries when a nine-member delegation from the region holds talks with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam here on Wednesday.

The delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), headed by Aichatou Mindaudou, Niger's minister of foreign affairs and cooperation and African integration, will also meet Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and discuss ways to boost India's trade with West African countries.

The ECOWAS delegation is likely to urge India, an observer at the regional trade forum, to step up its investment in infrastructure, including a rail project, in West Africa.

"The meeting will help define the roadmap of future relations between India and West African states and possible development of initiatives for closer political and trade cooperation and cooperation in multilateral forums," external affairs ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters here on Tuesday.

 

ECOWAS, a regional organisation comprising 15 nations, was formed in 1975 to achieve economic integration and shared development so as to form a unified economic zone in West Africa.

Later, its scope was enhanced to include socio-political interaction and security issues.

India's relationship with ECOWAS received a boost recently through the implementation of a slew of high profile projects funded through bilateral lines of credit under the Techno-Economic Approach for Africa-India Movement (TEAM-9) and New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiatives.

Bilateral trade with the ECOWAS region currently stands at $2.11 billion and accounts for 27 percent of India's total exports to Africa and 18 percent of the country's total imports from the continent.

3.  Violent protests disrupt IDB's opening ceremony

From: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/miamiherald/business/14255385.htm?source=rss&channel=miamiherald_business

 

 

Debt relief was the main theme at the Inter- American Development Bank's annual meeting, but violent protests marred the opening ceremony.

BY ALAN CLENDENNING

Associated Press

ERALDO PERES/AP

PROTEST: Cacique Evara Mirin, of the Guarani tribe, smokes a pipe while camping out in front of the National Congress building in Brasilia, Brasil, Tuesday.

More photos

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil - THREE LINES FOR MBZ 04IDB

Bolivian President Evo Morales led a handful of impoverished Latin American countries seeking sweeping debt relief at a key regional economic forum on Monday, but violent protests marred the start of the event.

As senior finance officials from 47 nations opened the Inter-American Development Bank's annual meeting at an elegant state government palace, hundreds of protesters opposed to the bank's lending practices clashed with police at two sites more than a kilometer from the gathering, local media reported, with two police officers and a photographer injured.

The protesters also trashed the reception area of a building owned by Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais, one of Brazil's largest utilities, and a recipient of IDB loans. Critics of the bank say it gives too many loans that benefit big business and don't help Latin America's masses of poor.

Four police officers and four private security guards were injured in that clash, CEMIG spokesman Laudo David told the newspaper Estado de Minas. Protest organizers said an unknown number of protesters were injured and 10 were taken into custody by authorities.

Morales, a strident leftist who took office in January, and Honduras' newly elected leader are expected to lobby hard at the three-day meeting for the bank to forgive as much as $3.5 billion owed by the Andean nation, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Morales said debt relief is needed to help Bolivia ease the misery of the 67 percent of the nation's 8.5 million citizens living in poverty. The country owes $1.6 billion to the IDB and Morales wants the entire amount forgiven.

''We want to end this exclusion and this marginalization,'' Morales said. Bolivia's ``poor and its Indians only want to live decently.''

But Latin America's two biggest powerhouses -- Brazil and Mexico -- are balking at supporting the write-off unless richer nations foot the bill.

The bank is owned by its member countries, mainly from the Western Hemisphere, but it also includes European nations, plus Japan, Israel and South Korea.

Morales, the country's first Indian leader, will rub shoulders with Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, a wealthy agricultural landowner, who also took office in January.

Brazil is to head a special committee charged with coming up with a financing solution for the five-nation debt relief package by the end of the year, said Clay Lowery, the U.S. Treasury Department's assistant secretary for international affairs.

Lowery said the U.S. delegation is proposing a complicated structured-financing arrangement that will relieve debt while not hurting the IDB's balance sheet. If that method is adopted, the debt would not be paid by the rich nations.

Another prickly topic emerged on the sidelines of the forum: Bolivia's plan to nationalize its vast natural-gas resources and how that will affect Petróleo Brasileiro, Brazil's state-owned petroleum company.

Morales campaigned to wring more profits from the foreign gas producers and Petrobras is a major producer in Bolivia, where production was privatized in the 1990s. Brazil is Bolivia's biggest gas client.

The Bolivian leader is seeking to convince Brazil to increase investment in Bolivia's gas production and accept higher prices.

But negotiations have stalled over Morales' vaguely defined plan to nationalize gas resources.

Morales met Monday with Marco Aurélio Garcia, the special advisor for international affairs of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Garcia said the two sides agreed to resume talks, but he did not offer details.

Delegates at the IDB meeting, one of Latin America's most important annual economic forums, will discuss how the bank can improve the region's crumbling infrastructure, boost economies, promote regional integration and improve living standards for Latin Americans and Caribbean citizens living in misery.

Luis Alberto Moreno, a longtime Colombian ambassador to Washington elected last year to a five-year term as head of the bank, is overseeing the meeting for the first time.

Moreno wants to maintain the Washington, D.C.-based bank's role as a key source of funding for government projects while expanding loans to the private sector, a move the United States supports. He also advocates small-scale Latin American development projects for the region's poor that can serve as examples for more expensive efforts.

The IDB's mission is to foster sustainable economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean through low-interest loans, leadership in regional initiatives, research, education and other programs.

4.

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4. Experts meet on North African integration

From: http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=430349

Rabat, Morocco 04/05 -- The 21st meeting of experts of the Intergovernmental Committee of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Office for North Africa opened here Tuesday to review regional integration programmes.

The two-day meeting gathers representatives of UN agencies, multilateral, regional and sub-regional organisations, representatives of the private sector, training and research institutions, as well as NGOs.

The issues on the agenda include economic performance of North African countries in 2005, development of regional economic organisations, trade aspects of regional integration, judicious water management challenges and sustainable environment.

The outcomes of the meeting will be submitted to the next conference of African ministers of finance, planning and economic development slated in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 10 to 15 May.

5. New trade dawn in land of rising sun

From: http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/new-trade-dawn-in-land-of-rising-sun/2006/04/04/1143916528943.html

By Deborah Cameron
April 5, 2006

AdvertisementAdvertisement

JAPAN wants Australia, New Zealand, China, India, and South-East Asia to join in an economic community that would eclipse one-to-one free trade pacts.

It would be the world's biggest trade zone and marketplace adding about ¥25 trillion ($A300 billion) to the economies of the participating countries, according to Japan's Ministry or Economy, Trade and Industry.

Tokyo has seized on the idea, which is expected to be unveiled later this week, to counteract the buzz about China which has set the pace for trade pacts.

Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister, Toshihiro Nikai said he wanted talks on the region-wide agreement to start in 2008 and conclude by 2010. "Trying to launch such negotiations as well as trying to conclude them might be considered ambitious," said Takeshi Fujimoto, a ministry official.

"But with discussions for east Asian economic integration on the rise, we don't think it's something you should spend a lot of time studying."

The contest between Japan, the region's largest economy, and China is an inescapable fact in the debate. China has also advocated a new Asian economic zone and the two countries would be rivals for the leadership of any new community.

The two countries are a study in contrast. China has raced ahead signing free trade agreements, while Japan faces the ferocious resistance of its agriculture ministry.

Only last week China said that it wanted progress on a Free Trade Agreement with Australia to be speeded up. Meanwhile, talks on free trade between Australia and Japan, our biggest trading partner, are still in the feasibility stage. Both nations want to conclude the initial phase by the end of the year, but an Australia-Japan free trade deal remains years off, according to officials close to the talks.

With Japan unable to quickly conclude one-on-one trade negotiations with friendly countries, a deal that involves 15 neighbours will take a mind shift by Japanese negotiators. But the involvement of Japan's economy and trade minister, Mr Nikai, as the political salesman for the new plan points to the seriousness of Tokyo's intent, as he is widely viewed as the cabinet minister with the best connections in China.

Australian trade officials have expressed scepticism about the Japanese proposal. "It would be very complicated to negotiate a free trade agreement with all those countries," said a spokeswoman for Trade Minister Mark Vaile. "The Japanese haven't spoken to us about this. We look forward to speaking about it in the lead up to the east Asia summit later this year."

Last year Foreign Minister Alexander Downer floated plans for the ASEAN group to form a single-east Asian community.

- With TIM COLEBATCH