HANOI, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Minister of International Trade and IndustryDatuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said the concept of an Asean Free Trade Area(AFTA) has almost been realised with 98 percent of the products tradedamong the six original members being subject to reduced tariffs under theCommon Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme.

She said that 95 percent of the products are placed under the 0-5 percentrange of the member countries customs tariffs.

The six original ASEAN members are Brunei, Indonesia Malaysia, thePhilippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Rafidah said that the new members of ASEAN have included 64 percent oftheir products into the scheme, of which 55.6 percent are already at the0-5 percent range of the tariff rates.

Rafidah said this at the signing of a countertrade agreement between thenational padi and rice corporation Padiberas Nasional Bhd (BERNAS) and twoVientnames companies last night.

Asean also comprises Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Rafidah, who witnessed the signing is in Hanoi to attend the thirdAsia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Economic Ministers Meeting (EMM3) and the AseanEconomic Ministers'Meeting (AEM).

The ceremony saw BERNAS signing the agreement with Southern FoodCorporation (VINAFOOD) and the National Company for Vegetable Oils, Aromasand Cosmetics of Vietnam (VOCARIMEX).

According to Rafidah, Asean companies like BERNAS, VINAFOOD and VOCARIMEXmust strive to exploit opportunities being created through AFTA and theWorld Trade Organisation (WTO).

She said that the countertrade agreement among the three parties concernedcould enable them to achieve the goal of being a regional andinternational food corporation through the formation of a strategicallyinterconnected food trading network.

Rafidah pointed out that the business cooperation among the three partesshould not be limited to only rice and palm oil.

She said that under the agreement, BERNAS would be able to import ricefrom Vietnam into Malaysia and other countries.

It could also import other products supplied to it through VINAFOOD andVOCARIMEX.

Likewise, VINAFOOD and VOCARIMEX would be able to initially import palmoil not only into Vietnam but other countries within the region as well asinto countries such as Iraq and Russia which have preferential trade linkswith Vietnam.

Under the countertrade agreement, BERNAS will import not less than 24,000metric tons (MT) of Vietnam rice, including Vietnamese fragrant rice forsix months from Oct 1, 2001 until March 31, 2002 valued at US$5 million(US$1 = RM3.8).

VOCARIMEX will reciprocate by importing palm oil of an equal value fromMalaysia over the same duration.

BERNAS imported some 138,000 MT of Vietnamese rice into Malaysia in 2000.Between January-July 2001 it imported some 86,000 tonnes of the graincrop.

On bilateral trade flows between Malaysia and Vietnam, Rafidah said thevalue of the two-way trade increased to US$930 million in 2000 from US$633million in 1999.

During the first six months of 2001, the figure stood at US$379.9 million.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese Minister of Trade Vu Khoan, who also witnessed theagreement signing ceremony, said the agreement will facilitate thedevelopment of direct trade between the two countries. -- BERNAMA