AEC starting point to connect ASEAN with neighbors: former Thai deputy PM

Thailand's former deputy prime minister Korn Dabbaransi said here Saturday that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries should not confine themselves within the boundary of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as its community building process is scheduled to be accomplished in 2015.

As the AEC building goes ahead, the challenge for ASEAN is how to capitalize on the historical AEC inauguration which will be commenced next year, he said in a keynote speech at the first ASEAN Development Forum.

"This long-awaited AEC is simply a starting point to enhance ourselves to economically connect with China and India, the two economic powerhouses in the Asia-Pacific region," said Dabbaransi, currently chairman of the Thai-Chinese Friendship Association.

He called on all ASEAN members to harmonize the construction of road network projects to maximize transportation and utilization so that regional border trade can be explored after 2015.

According to Dabbaransi, trade within the 10-member bloc has exceeded 60 percent of the total in the Asian region.

"The AEC of 10 nations with more convenient road network will elevate inter-Asian trade volume to an even higher level," he noted.

The AEC vision is defined by factors such as a single market and production base, a competitive economic region, equitable economic development and integration into the global economy.

Dabbaransi expressed the hope that ASEAN countries develop a mutually beneficial and prosperous region together with China and India.

The first ASEAN Development Forum in Hong Kong was attended by government officials, experts, scholars and business people from the 10 ASEAN countries as well as representatives of Hong Kong's business community and related experts and scholars from the Chinese mainland.

Under the theme "Building Mutual Trust and a Community of Common Destiny," participants held discussions on four major topics: building common destiny with strategic mutual trust, deepening economic and trade cooperation with upgraded China-ASEAN FTA, enhancing connectivity with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and working towards an ASEAN community with practical cooperation.