CEBU—Member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) signed on Sunday a framework agreement with China on trade in services (TIS), a key move toward a future free-trade agreement (FTA) between Beijing and the regional bloc.      

Free-trade agreements and regional security dominated discussions between the Asean leaders with their dialogue partners Japan, South Korea and China at the 12th Asean Summit, which concludes here on Monday.     

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the Asean-China TIS is another major achievement in the economic cooperation and trade between Beijing and the regional bloc. “It will mark a major step forward in the building of the China-Asean Free Trade Area and lay the foundation for full and scheduled completion of the China-Asean free-trade agreement,” said the Chinese premier in his opening statement at Sunday’s Asean-China Summit.     

Earlier on Thursday night, India’s trade official, also in Cebu for the Asean, said the proposed FTA between Asean and India is expected to be signed by July this year, or after issues on sensitivities and exemptions are threshed out at the economic leaders’ meeting.      

Indian Minister for Commerce and Trade Kamal Nath said Asean and Indian leaders have arrived at a common understanding on products to be covered and exempted from tariff cuts.               

Meanwhile, under the TIS agreement with China that will enter into force in July 2007, services and services suppliers and providers in the region can enjoy improved market access and national treatment in sectors and subsectors where commitments have been made.               

The TIS agreement is expected to raise investments in sectors such as computer related sectors, real estate, market research, management consulting, construction and engineering, tourism and travel, transport and education, telecommunications, health and social services, recreational, cultural, sporting, environmental and energy services.         

“In terms of level of ambition, the first package also shows higher market access commitments. It is expected that trade in services in the region would expand and grow in scale through the four modes of service delivery: cross-border supply, consumption abroad, commercial presence, and movement of natural persons,” said an Asean media statement.         

The agreement also allows Asean members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to enjoy special treatment to strengthen domestic services capacity, improve access to distribution channels and information networks, liberalize market access in sectors and modes of supply of export interest to them, open fewer sectors, liberalize fewer types of transactions, among others.

To facilitate market access, special commitments by signatories specify that the signatories cannot limit and put a quota on the total number of service suppliers, value of transactions, number of service operators and number of natural persons to be employed.       

“In terms of level of ambition, the first package also shows higher market access commitments. It is expected that trade in services region in the region would expand and grow in scale through the four modes of service delivery: cross-border supply, consumption abroad, commercial presence, and movement of natural persons,” the media statement said.     

More negotiations on market access to improve the level of commitment will be undertaken over the next year as the agreement contains a built-in agenda for the conclusion of a second package of commitments one year from its entry into force.              

China and Asean established a free trade area in July 2005. Since then, Premier Wen said, tariffs on more than 7,000 Asean and Chinese products were lowered and both parties maintained steady growth. The two-way trade volume in 2006 also reached US$ 160.8 billion, up by 23.4 percent in the previous year.           

Besides the TIS agreement, Asean members and China have also signed two agreements‑‑Beijing Declaration on Asean-Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Cooperative Partnership Agreement for Common Development and the Memorandum of Understanding for Agricultural Cooperation.

“China and Asean are geographically close to each other. We have similar cultures and complementary economies. We are both friendly neighbors and important strategic partners. We need each other in our respective development endeavors and we are bound by common interests,” concluded the Chinese premier.

CEBU—Member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) signed on Sunday a framework agreement with China on trade in services (TIS), a key move toward a future free-trade agreement (FTA) between Beijing and the regional bloc.

CEBU CITY—Southeast Asian leaders have expressed their “continuing concern” over the situation in Iraq and the Middle East, and have called for a dialogue between the contending parties in Iraq to pave the way for national reconciliation in the war-torn country.

CEBU CITY—President Arroyo said on Sunday that the 12th Asean Summit has broken “new ground” and has brought the regional grouping closer to its envisioned “formidable bloc” with the endorsement of a blueprint for an updated charter, and fresh pacts on security, migrant workers and trade.

CEBU CITY—In what is considered a “very major step” by one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, China on Sunday agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Asean on an Asean-China center on trade, investment and tourism promotion.

The economic managers said on Friday the country’s macroeconomic underpinnings this year should prove significantly stronger than originally assumed, one where local output or the gross domestic product were to quicken to as high as 6.1 percent from the  expectation of just 5.8 percent.

ANOTHER apparent money-making scheme by telecommunications companies already raking in multibilllion net profits each year has consumers up in arms, and a consumer advocacy group has asked the National Telecommunications Commission to immediately stop two of these telecom giants from imposing expiry dates on free text allocations and free airtime loads, which would begin Monday.

THE government may grant the appeal of power firm STEAG AG for a new power supply agreement in view of its proposed capacity expansion of up to 100 megawatts to 50 megawatts for the 210-megawatt Mindanao Coal power plant.

HONG KONG—China’s leading pharmaceutical giant is set for a battle with multinational companies (MNCs) as it opens its branch in the Philippines next month, banking on the growing popularity of Chinese medicine and alternative treatments.