US set to reinvigorate trade with ASEAN

US set to reinvigorate trade with ASEAN

Sunday, 19 October , 2003, 09:44

Singapore: The United States is set to reinvigorate its economic interests in Southeast Asia after three years of stagnation caused by terrorism, a struggling domestic economy and the lure of China, US business leaders and analysts say.


US President George W Bush's trip to the region this week, with stops in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines, is expected to kick start the renewed commitment, US-ASEAN Business Council president Ernest Bower said.

US business investment in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has remained about the same at 52 billion dollars in the past three years, according to Bower.

<snip>
"You are going to see US-ASEAN trade bump up pretty aggressively over the next couple of years," Bower said, citing this year's signing of the US-Singapore free trade agreement (FTA) and the rising US economy as major reasons for the turnaround.

more...
http://sify.com/news/international/fullstory.php?id=13287581

:wtf: What rising US economy????

going to cheap labor countries so we can buy stuff that we could make here if we had a trade policy that ,at least, would protect some of our industries so someone could still be employed..ah one sentence