Cambodian Gov’t approves on ASEAN Free Trade Agreement with Australia, and New Zealand

The Cambodia government on May 28 approved the ASEAN- Australia and New Zealand Free Trade Area Agreement (AANZFTA) and later it will hand over the agreement to the national assembly to ask for ratification and the effective use.
The statement from the result of the cabinet meeting of Cambodia said that the meeting led by Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen approved the agreement. “The agreement will open the road to enhance, integrate economy of Cambodia in region, and will be a tool to speed up the trade exchange and investment between the 12 countries that combined in total of 600 million populations and has 2,700 billion US dollars for gross domestic products. The statement said that the agreement was passed the ASEAN summit plus dialogue partner in Hua Hin Thailand on February 27, 2009 and the agreement was in effective from January 1, 2010 after the 7 ASEAN countries including Brunei, Malaysia, Philippine, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Burma, as well as Australia and New Zealand already implemented.
“The agreement will play a key role for Cambodia to expand the trade, economy, and growth of the country, and also will attract the investment to foster the growth and economic integration of the country,” Deputy prime minister and Minister of economy and finance H.E Keat Chhon told the Southeast Asia weekly at the national assembly on May 27.
The Agreement establishing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)–Australia–New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) was signed by the Minister for Trade, Simon Crean, and his ASEAN and New Zealand counterparts, on 27 February 2009 in Hua Hin, Thailand AANZFTA is the largest FTA Australia has concluded. ASEAN and New Zealand together account for 20% of Australia's total trade in goods and services, which were worth $112 billion in 2008. This is larger than our trade with any single country.
AANZFTA contains regional rules of origin and substantial tariff reduction and elimination commitments, as well as World Trade Organization (WTO)-plus commitments in other areas such as services, which will provide commercially meaningful benefits to Australian business and further strengthen Australia's commercial ties with ASEAN. AANZFTA entered into force on 1 January 2010 for eight of the twelve countries that signed the Agreement. In addition to Australia and New Zealand, ASEAN countries that had notified other Parties of the completion of their internal requirements, and for whom the Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2010 are: Brunei, Burma, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
Thailand notified on 11 January 2010 that it has completed its internal requirements. In accordance with AANZFTA, the Agreement entered into force for Thailand 60 days after this notification, on 12 March 2010.
The remaining ASEAN countries (Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos) are working to complete their internal requirements at the earliest possible opportunity in 2010. The Agreement will enter into force for these Parties 60 days after the dates of their respective notifications. ###