Boosting intra-Asean trade key community goal

THE Asean Economic Community will become a reality next year - but trade among member states still has some way to go.

"What does Asean mean to our people? It must be to increase trade," Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam told reporters here on Wednesday.

"If you look at the EU (European Union) and other communities, their intra-community trade is significant," he said. "Ours is only 20 per cent. So we need to increase that." These are the sort of issues Asean needs to focus on," Mr Shanmugam said as leaders of the 10-member economic grouping gathered for their annual summit meeting.