Le Luong, the former Vietnam deputy foreign minister, replaced Surin Pitsuwan of Thailand on January 9, 2013 as the secretary general of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In his speech during the turnover ceremonies at the ASEAN Secretariat here on January 9, Le Luong said ASEAN should speed up efforts towards an early start of negotiations with China with a view to achieving an early conclusion of a Code of Conduct on the South China Sea.
Besides, he said at the time that ASEAN members should increase investments, capital, labour, goods and services to meet the challenges of today`s world.
According to him, ASEAN has been regulating free trade areas since 2010, allowing member states to trade goods without incurring export and import taxes.
In 2012, trade among the ASEAN member states had increased by 25.4 percent.
The volume of trade increased last year because of the abolition of import and export taxes among ASEAN`s member states.
"An increase in the volume of trade will have a positive impact on each country`s economy," he said.
Therefore, Le added that every member state of the ASEAN should have good bilateral and regional ties to improve its individual economy.
(check-editing by Eliswan)
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Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
