REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS - Asean Leaders Agree to Form EU-Style Bloc by 2015

Bloomberg, Nov. 20 2007

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will today agree to eliminate trade barriers for goods and services in an attempt to create a European Union-modeled economic community by 2015.
The 10 members of the group will adopt an Asean Economic Community Blueprint aimed at eliminating trade barriers, the leaders will say in a declaration obtained by Bloomberg News.
Member nations say integration, styled after the EU without a common currency or passport-free travel, is essential for the group as it competes with China and India for exports and investments.

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