17th ASEAN transport ministers meeting ends, two agreements signed

 PHNOM PENH, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- The 17th ASEAN Transport Ministers (17th ATM) meeting concluded here on Friday  afternoon with two agreements signed.
  The two agreements are the Protocol to Implement the Seventh Package of Air Services Commitment under the ASEAN  Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) and the Protocol 6 on Railways Border and Interchange Stations of the Framework  Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods in Transit (AFAFGIT).
  The AFAS aimed at enhancing cooperation in services amongst ASEAN member States, eliminating substantially all restrictions  to trade in services amongst member states and liberalizing trade in services by expanding the depth and scope of liberalization.
  “This is a significant progressive step towards the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015,” Cambodia’s  Minister of Public Works and Transport Tram Iv Tek said after the signing ceremony.
  He added that the signing of the AFAFGIT was a substantial milestone in ASEAN’s endeavor to facilitate cross border  movement of goods trains within the region.
  Connecting and transit services on railway lines linking the territories of ASEAN member states would be performed at  designated railways border and interchange stations, he said.
  The 17th ATM meeting also issued the Declaration on the Adoption of the Implementation Framework of the ASEAN Single  Aviation Market (ASAM), which is one of the key strategies under the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity and the Brunei  Action Plan, according to a Joint Ministerial Statement released after the meeting.
  “The Implementation Framework is a significant undertaking that will guide the key work of ASEAN in the aviation sector over  the next four years and beyond 2015,” it said. “The Implementation of ASAM would include areas such as air services  liberalization, the alignment of aviation safety and security standards and practices as well as the harmonization of air traffic  management.”
  The 17th ATM meeting and related meetings including the meetings of the 10th ASEAN- China Transport Ministers, the 3rd  ASEAN- South Korea Transport Ministers, and 10th ASEAN- Japan Transport Ministers, began here on Dec. 15.
  In the Joint Ministerial Statement, the ASEAN transport ministers also highlighted the importance of the dialogue partners in  assisting the development of ASEAN transport sector.
  “With China, the ASEAN ministers noted the good progress reached by both sides and urged them to keep up the momentum  and make progress on the exchange of 5th freedom traffic rights when they next meet in 2012,” it said.
  It added that with Japan, the ministers looked forward to the adoption of the ASEAN-Japan Logistics Partnership.
  Also, with South Korea, they reiterated their calls to start discussions on air services liberalization between ASEAN and South  Korea through the establishment of ASEAN-Korea working group on regional air services arrangement.
  The ministers agreed that the 18th ATM meeting will be held in Indonesia in 2012.
  The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) group Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the  Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.