LatAm, East Asia build trade bridges across the Pacific

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BRASILIA, Aug 23 (Agencies): Foreign ministers and envoys from 33 Latin America and East Asian countries yesterday opened two days of talks to boost fledgling trade between the far-flung regions, amid mixed concern over the US credit crisis.
Forum for East Asia Latin American Cooperation (FEALAC) co-host, Brazilian President Jose Luis Lula da Silva, urged the economy ministers and central bank chiefs of the group to "develop the habit of meeting ... to find out how we can arm ourselves to deal with crises that often are out of our hands."
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorin said that while financial trouble in rich nations "affect us all," Latin America and Caribbean economies of late "have advanced and their markets have achieved greater stability."
Representatives of East Asian nations, meanwhile, appeared less concerned with the current US market turmoil.
Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Tomohiko Taniguchi told reporters the US crisis was for central banks to deal with, while Indonesian Foreign Secretary Hassan Wirajuda said the matter was of "limited" interest in his region.
Filipino Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo was more forceful: "We're talking about Focalae relations. Maybe later, in other meetings, somebody can bring the (US credit crisis) up for discussion."
In his opening remarks, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Fealac "can well be the greatest ocean-connecting bridge," referring to the two regions separated by the vast Pacific Ocean.
"Our two-way trade is now 3.5 times as big as it was in 1998, from 53 billion US dollars to 183," he said.
"The canals connecting the two oceans, both wet and dry, must be made broader."
Opening the meeting, Amorim called for countries to "explore common interests" between the distant regions.
"We all understand the importance of South-South cooperation," he said.
South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-Hoon, who is co-hosting the meeting, said "there is synergy between our two regions."
Aso said the forum could have a major role to become on the world stage.
The FEALAC's two-day meeting is drawing up a final declaration to be issued Thursday giving priority to trade and investment cooperation, according to a draft.
Many of the participants-like Brazil, China, Indonesia or Argentina-are also members of the Group of Twenty (G20) bloc of developing countries vigorously opposed to the agricultural subsidies granted in Europe and the United States, which they see as unfair.
During the meeting the Dominican Republic was due to become a new member of the organisation founded in Chile in 2001, while Brazil also called for the other nations of the Caribbean to be admitted.
Meanwhile, trade between Brazil and East Asian countries increased by 180 per cent over the past 10 years and the volume of investment maintains consistent growth, Brazil's ministry of development, industry and foreign trade informed yesterday.
Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and other East Asian countries registered a trade flow of 39 billion US dollars in 2006.
According to the ministry's executive secretary, Ivan Ramalho, trade flow between Brazil and the region is expected to reach about 50 billion US dollars in 2007, as their total imports and exports already amounted to 27 billion US dollars in the January-July period.
Last year, Asia was the final destination for 13 per cent of Brazil's exports, while imports from that region represented 21 per cent of all of the country's overseas purchases in the period, for which Brazil is pursuing a greater balance of trade.