Trade and Industry Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, who attended the recent AEM retreat held in Singapore last month, said the ministers noted that such a move would benefit ASEAN through potential free trade agreements (FTAs).
Purisima said that such a move would "balance the negotiating dynamics with the more powerful partners through a pragmatic diversification of the ASEAN FTA portfolio."
Purisima said the ministers considered recommending to ASEAN leaders that an ASEAN-CER (closer economic relationship) summit be held this year in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the ASEAN-Australia and ASEAN-New Zealand relations.
ASEAN is already in the midst of more advanced negotiations with important partners like China and Japan.
For the ASEAN-Japan engagement (which the Philippines chairs for ASEAN at the working group level) the AEM, Purisima said, considered various views on the value that Japan places on bilateral FTAs with individual members versus an FTA with the region as a whole.
For the ASEAN-India engagement, Purisima reported that modalities are being considered for an early harvest program.
Purisima explained that "the early harvest program is a sort of goodwill downpayment in advance of the FTA proper and consists of quick liberalization of certain sectors for which the parties are willing to offer each other such concessions."
"I have instructed officials to review our experience in negotiating, then opting tos tay out of, the early harvest program with China. This wasy, in the case of India, in consultation with our domestic industries and sectors, we can have a less ambivalent and timeller involvement," Purisima said.