sian summits mull cooperation, "new growth model"

A series of Asian summits concluded three days of talks Sunday with new proposals for closer cooperation to confront the global financial crisis, which has hurt its traditional export markets.

The 15th summit of the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) and related summits with its six "dialogue partners" were held Friday to Sunday at Cha-am beach resort, 130 kilometres south-west of Bangkok.

The flurry of meetings ended Sunday with the East Asia Summit, which includes the Asean nations plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

Newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama used the East Asia Summit and other Cha-am summits to push his long-term vision of an "East Asia Community" while Australian Prime Minister Keven Rudd mooted an Asia-Pacific Community.

While still vague in content, the main message was that the region needs to find a new growth model, summit chairman Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.

"For the East Asian leaders this morning what was of utmost importance as far as meeting common challenges ahead appears to be about finding a new growth model for the region," Abhisit said.

"The old growth model, where we have to rely of consumption in the West for goods and services produced here, we feel will no longer serve us as we move into the future," he said. "Which is why we have to strengthen our domestic markets and fulfill the potentials that are there if we can liberalize trade within the region."

While the "East Asian Community" and "Asia Pacific Community" concepts are long-term visions, a regional free trade area appeared to be emerging as a much closer reality at the summits.

"We will be moving towards a region-wide free trade area one way or another," Abhisit said.

A regional free trade pact is also expected to be discussed at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on November 13-14 in Singapore, according to officials. A separate US-Asean summit is also planned on November 15 in Singapore.

Asean will fully implement a free trade agreement among original members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, on January 1, 2010.

In 2008, Asean intra-regional trade had reached 480 billion dollars.

The bloc has inked partial trade pacts (FTAs) with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, which are at various stages of implementation.

"There is a proposal that on an APEC level we should have a more ambitious free trade area," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kadama said after the East Esia Summit.

APEC includes Asean, the main East Asian economies and the US, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Chili and Peru.

Asean is still a long way from signing an FTA with the European Union, which recently "paused" its negotiations with the region on the issue for lack of progress.

The 47-year-old Asean, which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, now holds summits twice a year, in tandem with related summits with its main partners.

Vietnam, which is chair of Asean next year, will host two Asean summits in Hanoi in April and October.

Besides the trade talks, the 15th Asean summit also saw the launch of an Asean Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission.

The launch was marred by a walkout of three civil society representatives from the Asean Summit after the member government rejected five of their ten proposed "people's" representatives.

"You can't expect everything to go smoothly," Abhisit said.