Pascal Lamy travels to South East Asia to foster closer trade relations

EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy travels to Bangladesh, India and Indonesia between 17 and 21 January to enhance trade ties with the EU and to boost the WTO negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda. Before leaving for Dhaka Pascal Lamy said: "It is in all our hands to make sure that 2004 is a useful year for the WTO talks. All WTO members have clearly expressed their commitment to the multilateral trade system and their wish to see WTO talks advance. We now must make sure we translate words into deeds by restarting the talks successfully. So the Doha Development Agenda will be my prime focus during this visit to South and South East Asia."

Dhaka - Bangladesh (17-18 January)

Pascal Lamy returns to Dhaka one year and a half after his first visit to the country. He will be meeting the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Mr. Begum Khaleda Zia, Foreign Minister Mr. Morshed Khan and Trade Minister Mr; Chowdhury. He will also be meeting representatives of Bangladeshi business and civil society, in particular Professor Yunus, who has developed micro-loans through the Grameen Bank, which he created in 1983.

Issues on the agenda will include the EU's quota and duty free access for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) such as Bangladesh under the Everything but Arms initiative, the future of trade in textiles after the expiry of the WTO multilfibre arrangement in January 2005 and the participation of LDCs in the on-going talks at the WTO Doha Development Agenda.

Pascal Lamy will also participate at the conference organised by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Bangladesh on "Global Economic Governance and Challenges of Multilateralism", where he will be raising the importance of multilateralism in addressing the increasingly global challenges in our society, from trade to environment or sustainable development.

New Delhi - India (19 January)

Pascal Lamy returns to India for the 4th time since he took office, where he will be meeting Indian Trade Minister Arun Jaitley, representatives of the Indian Parliament at the Standing Committee on Trade, representatives from Indian business (Confederation of Indian Industries CII) and civil society.

Discussions will cover both bilateral trade issues as well as the on-going WTO talks where India plays a prominent role among developing countries.

Yogyakarta and Jakarta - Indonesia

The visit to Indonesia will allow Pascal Lamy to raise both bilateral and multilateral trade issues with the Indonesian authorities, business and civil society. In addition he will participate at an informal meeting of the ASEAN Economic and Trade Ministers focusing on regional integration, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and the on-going WTO talks.

In Jakarta he will be meeting with Prime Minister Megawati Soekarnoputri, Forestry Minister Muhammad Prakosa and Trade Minister Rini Soewandi as well as with representatives of Indonesian and EU business.


Background

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), encompasses 10 South East Asian countries. Its key position in the Asia-Pacific region, its dedication to peace and stability in the region and its important economic weight have made ASEAN an essential partner for the European Union in Asia. ASEAN was established on 8 August 8 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signature of the Bangkok declaration by the five original member nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand). In 1984, Brunei Darussalam was admitted as the sixth member. In 1995, Vietnam also joined ASEAN. Lao People's Democratic Republic and Burma/Myanmar became members in 1997. Cambodia joined in 1999.

In 2002, the EU was ASEAN's second largest export market and third largest source of imports behind Japan and the US. EU exports to ASEAN were estimated at € 40 billion, while EU imports from ASEAN were valued at € 62 billion.

In 2002 the EU was India's main trading partner. EU exports to India amounted to € 14 billion while imports from India amounted to € 13 billion, mainly on textiles, chemicals and agricultural products.

In 2002 the EU was Bangladesh's main trading partner, representing around 25% of its overall trade. EU imports from Bangladesh amounted to € 3.3 billion, mostly in textiles and clothing and agricultural products, while EU exports amounted to € 850 million.

EU exports to Indonesia in 2002 amounted to € 4.5 billion, while its imports amounted to € 10.3 billion, mostly in textiles and clothing, agricultural products and telecommunications equipment. The EU is Indonesia's second largest partner after Japan.


For more information go to:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/issues/bilateral/countries/india/index_en.htm
http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/issues/bilateral/regions/asem/index_en.htm
http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/india/intro/index.htm
http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/bangladesh/intro/index.htm
http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/indonesia/intro/index.htm

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