SE Asian nations plan common time zone to boost prosperity

Asian Economic News, May 17, 2004

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia, May 11 Kyodo

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plans to adopt a common time zone that could align the region with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, senior ASEAN officials attending a meeting here said Monday.

One option being considered is to adjust clocks to GMT plus 8, the time zone already in use in five ASEAN countries -- Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, and parts of Indonesia -- and in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

ASEAN members see a common time zone as a logical step to bolster their plan to create an ASEAN Community by 2020 with three pillars: an economic community, security community and socio-cultural community.

The 10 members currently have time differences ranging from GMT plus 6.5 for Myanmar to GMT plus 9 in certain parts of Indonesia. Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam share a time zone of GMT plus 7.

The officials discussed the issue of a common time zone on the first day of a senior officials' meeting here Monday, which will be followed by a meeting Tuesday between ASEAN officials and those from Japan, China and South Korea, a meeting Wednesday among the 23 governments participating in the ASEAN Regional Forum and a senior officials' retreat Thursday.

The meetings are being held to prepare for an annual gathering of ASEAN foreign ministers in July and a meeting of the region's top leaders in November, both in Indonesia.

ASEAN leaders called for a study of a common time zone in 1996 but their plan was stalled by a spate of economic slumps in the following years, including the downturn last year caused by the outbreak of SARS in many Asian countries.

ASEAN sources said Malaysia proposed reviving the idea of a common time zone recently, and the ASEAN Secretariat is expected to conduct a study on the proposal.

''We are planning to revisit this at the level of ASEAN economic ministers. It is a very attractive idea. The financial community loves it,'' ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong said.