The 41st ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM) and related meetings under the theme: "Walk Together, Work Together towards AEC," ended on Sunday, having increasingly moved toward free trade area.

The meetings, which started officially from Aug. 14 in capital Bangkok, were participated by 10 economic ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN and from six dialogue countries, including China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand.

The meetings had focused on the economic integration within the ASEAN region as the ASEAN Economic Community is expected to complete in 2015, in which investment, capital and skilled labor can flow freely.

Thai Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai said in a news statement released on Sunday that the meetings were concluded successfully as the intra-regional FTA policy is aimed "to be less dependable on Western markets and interact with Asian countries."

According to a feasibility study released Saturday at the ASEAN+ 6 economic ministers' meeting, it is indicated that establishment of the free trade area will result in 1.3 percent increase in their gross domestic product.

In a bid to get closer to the Asian economic integration, a number of progresses were made at the 41st AEM meeting and related meetings.

On Saturday, China's Commerce Minister Chen Deming and the ASEAN economic ministers signed the ASEAN-China Investment Agreement. And, together with already-signed China-ASEAN agreements of the trade in goods and services, the two sides have completed the negotiation process of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area ( FTA), which is to be realized by Jan. 1, 2010.

"The China-ASEAN FTA will be an advanced FTA that covers an extensive area of 13,000,000 square kilometers with a population of 1.9 billion," Chen told Xinhua after the signing ceremony.

Prior to this, on Thursday, the ASEAN economic ministers and Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma signed a long-awaited free trade agreement (FTA) for trade in goods after over six years of intense negotiations.

"This is a historic development given the increasing engagement between India and ASEAN countries and the enhanced economic cooperation and this agreement definitely will open new opportunities," Sharma said after the signing ceremony.

Meanwhile, ASEAN and Republic of Korea (ROK) on Saturday signed a letter of understanding on the Product Specific Rules of Origin to facilitate trade between two sides, one of the outcome documents from the AEM meeting and related meetings.

Both sides were pleased to see the completion of ASEAN-ROK Free Trade Agreement, comprising of Trade in Goods, Trade in Services and Investments, said Porntiva.

Also, the ASEAN member countries, Australia and New Zealand are moving closer to realization of ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA), as on Saturday the 10th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM)-Closer Economic Relations (CER) Consultation was held.

Amid the global economic difficulty, "what the ASEAN is doing is positive and is on the right direction," said Tim Groser, New Zealand's Trade Minister, at a joint media conference.

All of the FTA agreements signed here will take effect from Jan. 1, 2010.

Moreover, the 16 economic ministers had agreed to set up a working group to explore various approaches of economic integration by examining three main issues: the Products Rules of Origin in each framework; classification of customs tariffs and customs procedures; and various economic cooperation, Porntiva said.

Furthermore, some including Japan and India have offered capacity building for ASEAN so as to strengthen 10 ASEAN's capacity towards the East Asia integration, the Thai Commerce Minister said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2009)