On July 16th 2015, the EU-ASEAN Business Council, of which ECCIL is a founding member and a member of the supervisory member, has launched its position paper on market access in ASEAN. The position paper calls for the elimination of non-tariff barriers to trade and highlights 4 overarching areas in which trade could be better facilitated:
- Cumbersome custom procedures;
- Unpredictable application of regulations and procedures;
- Restrictions of foreign ownership and foreign competition;
- Lack of harmonized standards or the lack of mutual recognition of such standards across the region.
Europe is ASEAN’s largest investment partner, and second most important trading partner after China.
Singapore is the single biggest recipient of EU investment, is the biggest source of ASEAN investment into the EU, and is the EU’s biggest trading partner in ASEAN.
The full position paper you can download here:Download