The country`s trade minister, Gita Wirjawan, said at a press conference on the sidelines of the 20th ASEAN Summit here on Monday that ASEAN trade ministers agreed that cooperation among member countries needs to be increased.
"At the current meeting of the ASEAN Economic Community Council, ASEAN trade ministers have expressed the need for member countries to take a stand with regard to the current world economic situation, marked by several other countries including China and India revising their economic growth to become stronger and solid enough to meet the challenges," he noted.
Minister Wirjawan said efforts to increase the region`s economic potential must include focusing on economic integration among members and involve the private sector in each member country.
Regarding efforts towards the creation of the ASEAN Community by 2015, Gita said each member country had already embarked on the stages as planned.
"At the AEC meeting we also discussed the score cards, showing that all ASEAN countries have been in the process of integrating into the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. In essence, all countries have been on the right track," he said.
Wirjawan added that there are several opportunities that could still be pushed to increase economic cooperation. He said 79 million tourists visit various ASEAN member countries each year, though only 30 million come from ASEAN countries.
He said if the tourism potential in member countries was boosted, then the number of tourists from the region would also increase.
(T.P008/H-YH/INE/KR-BSR/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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