FTAS PLAY MAJOR ROLE IN ASIAN ECONOMIC REBOUND, SAY EXPERTS

Singapore, April 27- The recent slew of free trade agreements (FTAs) between countries have played a strong part in the economic rebound in Asia.

Experts at the eighth Japan-Singapore Symposium on Monday said that these FTAs have accelerated trade and investment flows in the region. And regional countries should look out for more FTA opportunities to boost their economic performance.

Officials also said that Japan still remains important in leading economic cooperation between Asian countries.

Singapore is endorsing Japan's entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a multilateral free trade agreement that aims to standardise the different economic priorities of participating countries.

Speaking at the eighth Japan-Singapore Symposium on Monday morning, experts said that more integration efforts like the TPP will be needed to bring Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia closer economically.

Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Singapore, said: "These regional economic integration efforts complement the expanded Trans-Pacific Partnership which is currently being negotiated...we are pushing the envelope through trade liberalisation initiatives”.

Comparing the robust expansion of Asian economies to lackluster growth in the Western hemisphere, experts said that FTAs in the Asian region have been key to propelling economic growth.

Prof Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said: "The record shows, by the way, the reason why the fastest growing trade flows in the world are not in Europe, not across the Atlantic , not even across the Pacific, but in the East Asian regions is because there are so many free trade agreements being signed in this region”.

Participants at the eighth Japan-Singapore Symposium also said the ASEAN region has a larger role to play for Japanese investments.

Furthermore, in a bid to expand trade, countries should also diversify their investment portfolio by targeting multiple FTA partners in the region instead of concentrating on a single country.

Prof Mahbubani said: "The Japanese capacity for to invest in ASEAN can increase significantly. And also I think it is in Japan's interest to not put all its eggs in one basket, into China for example. And to spread its eggs also to India and the rest of its Asean countries. And I think that this is an area where frankly there is potential that is unrealised in the Japan-ASEAN relationship...in terms of level of investment into ASEAN, (it) could be larger than what it is today”.

Experts added that many South-East Asian countries will profit immensely from FTAs with Japan, as the transfer of sophisticated Japanese technology can develop the infrastructure of these lesser developed economies.

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