歐盟、東盟願開展自由貿易談判

A key European Union trade official wants to begin negotiations on a far-reaching free trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. The comments were made at a business summit between EU and Asian officials Sunday in the lead-up to this week's ASEAN summit in Cambodia.

歐州聯盟一名關鍵的貿易官員希望和東南亞國家聯盟開始一項利益長遠的自由貿易協議談判。這個說法是星期天歐盟和東盟官員在柬埔寨舉行商務峯會期間提出來的，這次峯會是計劃本週在柬埔寨舉行的東盟峯會的預備會。

European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is urging closer economic ties between the EU and the ten-member ASEAN bloc. During a conference of EU and ASEAN officials Sunday, De Gucht urged delegates to make "concrete progress" on negotiations for a free trade agreement between the two regions.

歐盟貿易專員卡洛.德.古赫特敦促歐盟和有10個成員國的東盟集團加強經貿聯繫。在星期天舉行的這場歐盟和東盟官員的峯會上，德.古赫特敦促代表團成員爲兩個地區之間的自由貿易談判協議做出具體進展。

"We need a comprehensive, 21st-century free trade agreement between our two regions," said De Gucht, "It should tackle the full range of barriers that obstruct flows of goods, services and investment between our regions. And that means not only eliminating tariffs, but also tackling regulations that block trade in goods and services, improving the protection of intellectual property rights, and securing access to markets for government procurements, all within a legally binding framework."

他說：“我們需要一個全方位的、兩個地區之間21世紀的自由貿易協議。這項協議應該全面打破限制貿易流通的各種壁壘，讓貨物、服務行業以及投資在我們這兩個地區之間自由流動。這就意味着不僅要消除關稅，還要消除防礙貨物和服務流通的相關條例，改進保護知識產權的措施，保護政府採購的市場準入，要讓所有這些都落實在一個受法律保護的框架之中。”

De Gucht says the European Union will soon begin negotiations on a bilateral trade deal with Vietnam. The E-U has already started discussions with Singapore and Malaysia. But De Gucht says the goal is to strike a free trade agreement with the ASEAN bloc as a whole.

德.古赫特說，歐盟將很快開始和越南展開雙邊貿易協議談判。歐盟早已和新加坡以及馬來西亞展開了貿易談判。不過德.古赫特說，談判的目標是和整個東南亞國家聯盟達成一個自由貿易協議。

This year's summit comes amid the ongoing European financial crisis. De Gucht spent much of his speech Sunday assuring ASEAN leaders that the worst of the problems are over. Fifteen years ago, the situation was reversed, with Asian economies locked in financial turmoil.

今年的峯會召開期間正值歐洲陷入金融危機時。德.古赫特星期天用大量的篇幅向東盟各國領導人保證，歐洲最艱難的時期已經過去。15年前，兩個地區的局勢完全相反，當時亞洲經濟遭遇了金融風暴。In his speech, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan threw a light-hearted jab at his European counterparts.

東盟祕書長素林在發言中跟歐洲夥伴開了一個小玩笑。

"In 1997, Europe told us, put your house in order," said Pitsuwan. "This time, we appeal to Europe, put your house in order."

他說：“1997年，歐洲對我們說，把你們自己的問題理順。這次我們向歐洲呼籲，把你們的自己的事情理順。”

Trade between the two regions is significant. ASEAN as a whole is the EU's third largest trading partner, while the EU is ASEAN's second largest. Surin says these vital economic ties must grow to form a buffer against future financial challenges.

兩個地區間的貿易具有相當潛力。東盟整體來說，組成了歐盟第三大貿易伙伴，反過來，歐盟是東盟國家的第二大貿易伙伴。素林說，這些關鍵的經濟聯繫必須增長，以便能夠形成一個應對未來金融挑戰的緩衝機制。

"This is where both the business communities in ASEAN and the EU must engage themselves to mitigate the effects of these new dynamics, through trade, through investment, through technology, to further elevate our partnership, our cooperation and our connectivity, so that more opportunities can be created and more businesses are able to take advantage of our partnerships and to alleviate or reduce the uncertainties within the two regions," said Pitsuwan.

素林說：“東盟和歐盟兩個機構之間的商貿界必須讓自己有能力參與其中，以便通過貿易、投資、科技等減輕這些新動態變化的影響，進而進一步發展我們之間的夥伴關係、我們的合作和我們的聯絡，以便創造出更多的機會，讓更多的商貿能在我們的夥伴關係中受益，降低或減少兩地區之間的不確定性。”