Despite the recent turbulence in the euro
zone, the leader of the World Trade Organisation believes that a single
currency should be a “long-term goal” for the countries in the ASEAN economic
area.
“With a
single economic goal, a single market without trade obstacles, with harmonized
tariff and non-tariff measures, at some stage the issue of the currency will be
there,” Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the WTO, told CNBC Thursday.
He
added that the European model for currency union – which has been attacked by
some as partly responsible for the current crisis in the euro zone - would not
necessarily be followed for the ASEAN nations. The group includes Southeast
Asian countries like Singapore, Thailand, and Cambodia, which have a much wider
economic divergence than Germany and Greece.
At the
most recent ASEAN-EU Summit, the Secretary-General of ASEAN told Europe to “put
your house in order.”
“Whether
it comes through exchange rate agreements that create a reasonably fixed system
or the European way, this clearly entails a level of political integration
which is not yet on the horizon,” Lamy said.
Protectionist
measures brought in the wake of the financial upheaval of 2008 should now be
rolled back, he added.
“For
the first time since 2008, I’m getting worried. We’ve had so far trade
protectionist rhetoric, but little action. That’s happening now,” Lamy said.
“It’s
more pernicious than one visible trade dispute. It’s an accumulation of little
measures, tariff increases, administrative controls, government protection, the
purpose of which is to slow trade.”
Around
3 percent of world trade is affected by protectionist measures, according to
the WTO.
Reported
by Sri Jegarajah, written by Catherine Boyle
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