Six Years after 9/11, US-ASEAN Relations Strong

Forget the dodo-esque Free Trade Area of the Americas, have you heard of the Free Trade Area of the Pacific?

Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong, speaking to US-ASEAN constituency at the recently-concluded APEC summit in Sydney, Australia, has hinted at one, as well as an APEC-wide FTA. There has even also been talks of a necessary US leadership on the Doha trade talks, especially after it floundered in Hong Kong last year:

the US commitment to free trade sets the tone for the rest of the world, he noted, which is why a successful conclusion of the Doha Round on free trade would not be possible without American leadership.
from:http://thestar.com.my/services/printerfriendly.asp?file=/2007/9/9/asia/18829860.asp&sec=asia

You can imagine how the rest of the tale goes: Singapore pretty much kowtowing to the US on its sterling leadership on trade talks; the US having confidence reposed in it by the country of Singapore on the Middle East , Israel-Palestine; and the necessity of quid-pro-quo policies:

As for Washington’s concerns in the Middle East, Lee said that if the US is able to stabilise the situation in Iraq and make progress on the Israel-Palestine issue, it will change the balance and psychology of the region. That, in turn, will “benefit not just South-east Asia, but also countries around the world.”

The US administration must be laughing all the way to the ASEAN region.

Oops, I forgot it's already there--and has been for a good thirty years.

At a time when Singapore--assuming the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN this year--is doing a Pavlov to the US, especially at a critical time for the US when 9/11 is as close as it is, the region--and most likely Singapore--can count on some heavy US support for the future!

The Arab World, through GCC, Gets Serious with MERCOSUR

Looks like Mercosur is hitting it big off-late. First, it's going to be opening its parliament this month. Now, we're getting fresh news that the Arab world that had heretofore been rather lethargic on expressing itself in collaboration with other regional blocs, is now entertaining no less than a free trade area that will be completed by June with MERCOSUR.

Oh baby.

This is good stuff for the Gulf Cooperation Council that rarely features in this part of the world:

the free trade agreement between the Mercosur and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) should be concluded up to the end of June of this year. The GCC includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman. This week the Emirates were visited by one of the presidents of the Mercosur, the Uruguayan Tabaré Vasquez.

Thankfully, the leitmotiv behind this alliance is not one solely predicated on free trade; there is talk about other things, too:

Another point presented by the secretary general at the Arab Chamber was the integration of productive chains within the bloc, especially in the automotive, energy and petrochemical industry sectors. "It is not enough just to seek trade, it is also necessary to seek productive integration, otherwise there may be an imbalance in exports and imports," he declared

Wow. There's a turn-up for the books: not enough just to seek trade!

The secretary general of the Arab Chamber is talking about productive integration.

That's certainly one to look out for! With MERCOSUR and its associated countries talking about energy, this type of integration is probably a trend that needs to be looked out for...

good weekend!

Whither the European Union? Free-Trader, Egalitarian...or Hypocrite?

The EU is going places--or at least that's what the EU would like its citizens to think. That is, judging by an opinion piece by a lawyer who now works in the financial services.

She (I presume) writes an interesting piece about the EU, and looks at the following issues:

Withdrawing from the EU will put businesses in disadvantageous positions in Europe

Inconvenience caused to tourists and migrants

Withdrawal will distort the market

Member states should not enjoy benefits of the EU without facing drawbacks

We know the writer is a free-trader--and there's nothing wrong with that if that's what gets your kicks--because of the manner in which she castigates the attempt by the EU to assume an "egalitarian" EU predicated on a single market. She writes:

With the egalitarian ideology at its core, the EU is heading in a direction that is opposite its original destination. The aim of the EU officials is to create a collective block and to build a high fortress around it. That block will hamper the growth of Europe. Instead of truly fostering free trade, EU regulations and directives hold back those who endeavor to progress; indeed such efforts are frowned upon.

This is so ironic it's not funny. If you look at the steely attempts by the European Union and its arm-twisting of countries of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States to comply with its version of regional integration à l'Africaine, you could arrive at the conclusion that the EU is ferociously free-trade.

If you look at attempts by civil society organisations setting up websites, such as EPA Watch; specifically to monitor the obfuscatory tactics deployed by the EU in its relations with African countries, you begin to wonder whether a little hypocrisy is in the offing.

So when the writer finally writes:

It is one thing to devise policies founded on egalitarianism but quite another to implement them as if they are based on the ideas of free exchange.
from:http://www.mises.org/story/2536

I begin to ask myself is it not time to question what the EU does and says in theory, and practice?

Or is the EU pulling a very fast one on some of us?