The First Meeting of the AIA Council was held on 5 March 1999 in Phuket, Thailand and was chaired by H.E. Mr. Jose Trinidad Pardo, Secretary of Trade and Industry of the Philippines. The list of participants of the Meeting is attached.
Acceleration of AIA
2. Following the decision of the Sixth ASEAN Summit in December 1998 to accelerate the realisation of the ASEAN Investment Area, the Council agreed to immediately open and extend National Treatment to ASEAN investors in the manufacturing sector. The Council also agreed to expand the scope of the AIA Agreement to include manufacturing services.
3. Barriers to investments shall be phased out as follows:
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lists of excluded industries within the manufacturing sector shall be finalised by 7 April 1999 as called for by the Framework Agreement on the ASEAN Investment Area; and
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review of the Temporary Exclusion List is to begin immediately with the view to eliminating the lists by 1 January 2003.
4. The Council agreed on a set of principles and criteria for finalising the lists. These include the following:
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principle of being forward looking and no back-tracking;
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principle of standstill; and
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principle of MFN.
Investment Bold Measures Open to All Investors
5. The Council noted that all ASEAN countries are implementing the "bold measures" agreed upon by the ASEAN Leaders at the Sixth ASEAN Summit in Hanoi in December 1998. These bold measures include minimum three year corporate income tax exemption or a minimum 30% corporate investment tax allowance, 100% foreign equity ownership, duty-free imports of capital goods, domestic market access, minimum industrial land leasehold period of 30 years, employment of foreign personnel and speedy customs clearance. The privileges cover manufacturing investment applications received and approved by the respective ASEAN investment agencies in 1999 and 2000. The privileges under the bold measures are to be extended to all investors, ASEAN and non-ASEAN. To this end, the Council encouraged investors to take full advantage of the investment privileges offered under the bold measures during the promotion period.
Multinationals Committed to Investing in ASEAN
6. The Council observed that, despite the crisis, many major multinational corporations remained committed to investing and operating in the region. The Council agreed that this was testimony to the strategic importance of ASEAN and how many multinationals remained confident of the region's recovery and longer term prospects.
7. The Council noted that the economic situation in the region had stabilised and that countries in the region were beginning to turn around. According to the economic forecasts of a number of international financial institutions, the region is expected to record a better economic performance than last year. Given the improved macroeconomic situation in the region and the progress of liberalisation under AIA, the Council is confident that foreign investors would seize the opportunity and take advantage of these favorable developments by locating their operations in ASEAN.
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H.E. Pehin Dato Abdul Rahman Taib, Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, Brunei Darussalam;
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Mr. Sugihono Kadarisman, Deputy Minister for International Cooperation, State Ministry for Investment, Investment Coordinating Board, Indonesia;
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H.E. Professor Dr. Bountiem Phissamay, Minister at the Prime Minister's Office and Vice Chairman of the Committee for Investment and Cooperation, Lao PDR;
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H.E. Tan Sri Zainal Abidin Sulong, Chairman, Malaysian Industrial Development Authority, Malaysia;
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H.E. Brigadier-General Maung Maung, Minister at the State Peace and Development Council Chairman's Office, Myanmar;
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H.E. Mr. Lee Yock Suan, Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore;
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H.E. Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, Thailand;
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H.E. Mr. Nguyen Nhac, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam;
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H.E. Mr. Rodolfo C. Severino, Secretary-General of ASEAN; and their respective delegations.
