Friday, January 31, 2003
ASEAN liberalizes investment between 7 member nations
Associated Press Jakarta, January 31
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said on Friday it has liberalized investment regulations in manufacturing between seven of its members.
The 10-member regional economic and political group had planned to phase out all restrictions on manufacturing investment by 2010 between its members. But ASEAN said in a statement released after a meeting of trade officials in Jakarta that regional governments had decided to bring the date forward to January 1 this year for some members.
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand have agreed to the new timetable. Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam -- ASEAN's poorest members -- still have until 2010 to lower their investment barriers. "Any ASEAN investor can now invest in any ASEAN country and enjoy national investor treatment in those manufacturing sectors that have been previously excluded," the statement said.
Foreign investors outside of ASEAN, however, will still face investment restrictions.
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