Indonesia urges ASEAN countries to speed up integration

Apr 8, 2011, 5:57 GMT

Jakarta - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday called on South-East Asian nations to work to speed up economic integration, state media reported.

Yudhoyono, addressing a meeting of finance ministers from the Association South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Bali, said member countries must take steps to liberalize financial services, develop capital markets and manage capital flows, according to the Antara news agency.

The president also urged the ministers to work together to formulate customs policy to implement the so-called ASEAN Single Window, a project allowing member countries to exchange import and export data online.

'Another challenge is how to formulate taxation policy that can remove barriers to integration and guarantee regional dialogue which will result in real action,' he was quoted as saying.

Ten-member ASEAN aims to create by 2015 an ASEAN Economic Community, modelled on European integration of the 1960s and 1970s.

Yudhoyono said reducing poverty remained a key challenge for ASEAN, noting that 118 million people in the region live on less than 1.25 dollars a day.

'Therefore, I believe that our joint efforts must contribute to our capacity to address poverty,' he said, according to Antara.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.