Jakarta – Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to ASEAN, Sujiro Seam, highlighted the free trade agreement (FTA) between his institution and ASEAN. He assessed that an FTA between the EU and ASEAN is not urgent to be discussed.
“Free trade agreements between regions remain a long-term goal,” Sujiro said at a media gathering in Jakarta on Thursday, January 16, 2025.
Seam revealed this view based on the agreement of EU leaders on December 14, 2022, at the 45th-anniversary summit in Brussels. Seam said the EU now has two FTA agreements with Singapore and Vietnam. He continued that the EU is actively negotiating with Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. He also hopes to continue FTA negotiations with Malaysia.
Furthermore, Seam assessed other ASEAN member countries, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, as underdeveloped countries in the region but could still obtain duty-free access to the European Union market. “They already have duty-free, quota-free access to the European Union market because of their status as the least developed countries,” he said.
Not only that, Seam highlighted several issues in the FTA negotiations. Among them are digital trade, development transition, and value chains. “So we do that in the context of the senior officials’ dialog that we have with ASEAN and the European Union, and also in the context of ASEAN Economic Ministers’ consultations with the European Union Trade Commissioner,” he said.
