Press Release: EU Trade Commissioner Mandelson in Malaysia: ‘Asia is changing; Europe’s trade policy needs to change with it’

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said on 17 May 2006 that EU trade policy for Asia needed to adapt to the dramatic changes in that dynamic region. Speaking at a meeting hosted by the Europe-Malaysia Chamber of Commere in Kuala Lumpur, Commissioner Mandelson argued that the EU needed to look beyond China to the whole Asian region in formulating a new European trade strategy for the region. He welcomed the publication of the results of a study by the EU-ASEAN Vision Group launched in 2005 that set out a range of strategies for developing EU-ASEAN trade, including the possibility of an FTA between the two regions.

• Primary Source

EU: EEAS: Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) http://eeas.europa.eu/asean/index_en.htm

European Commission: Speech: SPEECH/06/309: The Future of EU-ASEAN trade relations, 17.5.06 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/06/309&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Commission: DG Trade: Asia http://ec.europa.eu/comm/trade/issues/bilateral/regions/asem/index_en.htm

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