• 
• 
• 

Asean countries yesterday were urged to turn the economic crisis into opportunity by stimulating their trade and investment within the region and strengthening their economies and societies via cooperation.

On the second day of the Asean Business and Investment Summit at the Plaza Athenee Hotel in Bangkok, Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu said all parties must help each other eliminate obstacles to investment in the private sector, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises.

"Each country's leader must be aware that the cooperation of 10 countries will boost the region's economies, societies and cultures. It's much difficult for each country to grow by itself, so we need to turn it into action as soon as possible," he said.

Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the Asean Economic Community, when it starts up in 2015, should help boost investment 15 per cent.

Export-Import Bank of Thailand chairman Narongchai Akrasanee said Asean countries should spend their capital reserves within the region rather than in Western countries, which had been crushed by the financial crisis.

Besides regional cooperation, Asean should join hands with other countries, such as China, Japan, India, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia, he said.

Board of Trade deputy secretary-general Pornsilp Patcharintanakul said investment and trade among Asean members were on an upward trend, because of fewer barriers, thanks to measures like tariff exemptions.

However, members are required to improve the quality of their products and services to meet the same standard.

"I think we [Thailand] are merely 30-per-cent ready to join the Asean Economic Community (AEC), because both the business sector and consumers barely know what the AEC is and how it will affect them. Therefore, the government must accelerate educating the public. Unless we prepare ourselves well, we may face loses more than gains from the AEC," he said.

Tevin Vongvanich, senior executive vice president for corporate strategy and development at oil conglomerate PTT, said the Asean Council on Petroleum (Ascop) would sign the Asean Petroleum Security Agreement on Sunday.

The agreement's objective is to secure oil supplies among the member countries in the event of an unexpected crisis.

Ascop will also further discuss the development of a natural-gas transmission pipeline linking Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

"This project was scheduled to be completed in 2014-15, but it has been postponed for reconsideration on whether the huge investment required was worth it," he said.

In the energy sector, each country's national oil firm has boosted collaboration, including sharing knowledge and joint investment to save on costs, he added.

Buntoon Wongseelashote, chairman of the Board of Trade's Asean-EU subcommittee, said Asean still had room to grow in the European market in terms of both trade and investment.

"The figure of EU foreign direct investment in Asean doubled from ¤5.87 billion [Bt270 billion] in 2005 to ¤13.87 billion in 2006. If the economic crisis ends, the investment figure should continue rising," he said.