Fed: ASEAN wants FTA as Aust no longer begging: Downer

AAP General News (Australia)
04-25-2004
Fed: ASEAN wants FTA as Aust no longer begging: Downer

CANBERRA, April 25 AAP - South East Asian nations were keen for a trade deal now that
Australia was no longer begging for acceptance in the region, Foreign Affairs Minister
Alexander Downer said today.

The Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has invited Australia and New
Zealand to a leaders' meeting in Laos in November to discuss a possible free trade deal
with the two nations.

It follows years of effort by Australia and New Zealand to strike a deal with ASEAN.

Most analysts have put down the change in heart by ASEAN to the departure of former
Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad who stepped down last year.

But Mr Downer said apart from Dr Mahathir's departure, the reason for ASEAN's decision
was that Australia wanted to be recognised in Asia as an equal partner.

"I think one of the problems for Australia in its engagement with Asia for some period
of time has been the sense of Australia breathlessly begging to participate rather than
presenting itself as a very significant country that it is," he told the Ten Network.

"I think the enormous strength of the Australian economy over the last few years has
led people in Asia to take Australia a great deal more seriously."

Mr Downer said changes in the Australian economy also meant ASEAN wanted to engage
in a free trade deal.

"We used to have a lot of industrial strife in Australia certainly during the 80s,
this presented Australia rather poorly and so when we went to Asia we went begging to
participate," he said.

"More recently we've been a strong and successful country, we made a significant contribution
to the region and the world and we haven't been doing any begging, but we do a lot of
talking, and I think we're getting better synergies now between Australia and Asia."

AAP sw/cat/br

KEYWORD: ASEAN AUST

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