MYANMAR and fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last week made significant progress in finalising a free trade deal with two major trading partners, China and India.

The annual meeting of ASEAN economic ministers, held from August 25 to 28 in Singapore, underscored the importance of finalising the Investment Agreement with China, which is the last of three economic agreements needed to be signed ahead of a broader free trade deal.

This framework for this free trade accord, the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, was laid out and signed in 2003.

Myanmar was represented at the meet by the Minister for National Planning and Economic Development, U Soe Tha.

ASEAN’s economic relations with China are rapidly rising: The volume of trade has tripled over the past five years from US$59.6 billion in 2003 to $171.1 billion last year, at am annual growth of 30 percent.

The meeting also produced agreement on tariff reductions on farm products, which had been main the hurdle for the signing of a free trade deal with India.
That deal is now expected to be signed in December when ASEAN leaders and their Indian counterparts meet in Bangkok on the sidelines of the annual summit of the leaders of the regional grouping.

If agreement is reached, it will come into force in January or June next year, media reports stated last week, paving the way for the establishment of free trade areas for more than 1.7 billion people.

Myanmar government statistics show that bilateral trade with China during the last fiscal year, which ended on March 31, stood at K9.3 billion, making it the third-largest trading partners after Thailand and Singapore.

Myanmar-India bilateral trade for the same period stood K4.9 billion, the statistics show.

Another highlight of the Singapore meeting were discussions on the establishment of ASEAN economic community to liberalise trade and service among member in a broader environment of rising energy and food prices.

Myanmar joined ASEAN in 1997; other members include Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei as well as Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.