Trade liberalisation to boost regions port business

To facilitate economic integration, trade among Asean members is scheduled to be completely free of duties for all the products by 2020, while at the start of this year Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, removed customs duties on all products originating from other Asean members.

A free trade agreement between Asean and China also came into force earlier this year, removing duties on hundreds of products and already boosting intra-Asia trade.

Thailand’s exports to China, for example, rose by 84.4% in the first two months of this year as the latter replaced the US as the biggest export market for Thailand.

Moves are also afoot to fully harmonise customs and remove other trading barriers in the region, all of which should boost trade via ports.

“These reforms are very important,” says Ed Abesamis, executive vice president of Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services which runs a host of facilities in the Asean region. “It will drive growth in a fundamental way as we are already seeing. Further harmonisation of customs documentation and processes is required. But these efforts reduce the cost of moving cargo which encourages trade within Asean and with partners such China.”