Australia signs ASEAN free trade agreement

AUSTRALIA and New Zealand have signed a major free trade agreement with 10 Southeast Asian countries in a deal aimed at curbing the effects of the global economic crisis.

The pact is the most wide-ranging ever signed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), while it gives the two Pacific nations access to a market of nearly 600 million people.

Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean and his New Zealand counterpart Tim Groser signed the agreement along with their ASEAN counterparts at the grouping's annual summit in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin.

"This agreement is a significant agreement for the region," Crean told a press conference after the signing.

"It's the most comprehensive FTA (free trade agreement) that ASEAN has ever signed and the largest FTA that Australia and New Zealand have ever signed in terms of two-way trade."

The deal was also the first of its kind that Australia had signed "since the onset of the global financial crisis", he said in a statement before the ceremony.

"It powerfully demonstrates... the region's strong commitment to opening up markets in the face of this crisis," he added in a statement.

"This will keep trade flows open in the region, increase growth and give a much-needed boost to confidence."

Australia and New Zealand agreed on the pact with the Southeast Asian regional bloc in August last year following talks that began in 2005.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It has a combined gross domestic product of more than 1.4 trillion dollars.

The accord covers trade in merchandise, services, investment, financial services, telecoms, electronic commerce, movement of people, intellectual property, competition policy and economic cooperation.

Australia and New Zealand's combined two-way trade with ASEAN was worth 100 billion Australian dollars (65 billion US dollars) and Australia's alone was worth 80 billion Australian dollars, Crean said.

With the new agreement, the Southeast Asian bloc has forged free-trade links with all its key regional economies. It earlier signed deals with China, Japan and South Korea.

ASEAN plans to establish a single market and manufacturing base by 2015 in a bid to remain competitive, especially with the rise of India and China.