Across Asia: Asean

EU eyes 2009 free trade

The European Union hopes to wrap up a free trade deal with Southeast Asian economies by the end of 2009, a senior European Commission official said yesterday.

A free-trade agreement between the EU and its fifth-largest trading partner, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), has stumbled over issues such as reform in Myanmar, which the EU imposed sanctions on last year. Talks over a free-trade agreement kicked off in May last year but have made little progress since then.