ASEAN members to work together on disrupted trade

A number of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members announced Thursday that they will work together to maintain the trade and investment flow that is being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Vietnamese trade minister Tran Tuan Anh said that with partners China, South Korea and Japan, they will not introduce any further economic barriers and will avoid disruption in the flow of goods and services.

He said ministers ''agreed to avoid unnecessary policies that could hinder the continuity essential goods, medication and health equipment in the region."

ASEAN economic ministers on Thursday held a special online meeting to address the challenges and actions for economic cooperation during the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 has killed 2,700 people in the ASEAN's 10 nation bloc. More than 90,000 people have been infected.

In several countries, the outbreak has been contained and business has resumed.

But the ongoing lockdown to curb the pandemic has caused a disruption in the flows of goods and movement of personnel, which have affected manufacturing in many ASEAN countries.

During the meeting, the ministers also discussed the goal of finalizing RCEP, a free trade agreement among ASEAN and its partners including China, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, by the end of 2020.