JAKARTA - Economic ministers from the 10-member Asean agreed yesterday to liberalise 10 sectors as a first step towards the creation by 2020 of a regional economic community akin to the European Union (EU). The sectors are expected to be approved at an Asean summit in Laos next month, the economic ministers said in a joint statement, following a meeting in Jakarta which began on Thursday.

Air transport could also join that list after Asean transport ministers meet later this year, Asean secretary-general Ong Keng Yong said.

The liberalisation plan is to be implemented in 2007 by Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, Mr Ong said. The remaining less-developed countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are to implement it in 2012. The plan is intended to 'optimise the capabilities of Asean business people, so that they can work together to produce at a low-cost and efficient way, and compete in the international market', Indonesian Minister of Industry and Trade Rini Soewandi told reporters. Asean leaders agreed last year to transform the region of nearly 500 million people into a giant EU-style economic community by 2020.

Addressing the ministers' meeting in a speech earlier yesterday, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri said member states must overcome their differences and integrate their economies or face a future on the sidelines of global commerce. She urged members to show greater political will to create an economic system based on international norms with consistent and transparent trade rules. 'The whole Asia-Pacific region, and nearly the whole world, are watching us,' she said. But she also warned against having too-high expectations and comparing Asean with the EU or North American Free Trade Area. 'Their experience also demonstrates that, even up to the present, not all their problems have been resolved.' She said Asean countries must prepare for integration by better training their work forces, standardising education, and, in some cases, improving infrastructure.