欧盟和东盟将商讨自由贸易 (EU, ASEAN to Begin Free Trade Talks)

欧盟和东南亚国家联盟同意举行自由贸易会谈，这将是全球最大的区域贸易谈判之一。东盟十国和欧盟星期五在文莱举行的会议上达成协议。

欧盟贸易专员曼德尔森对路透社说，双方进行了2年的准备后达成了这项协议。曼德尔森和东盟各国部长都没有给出谈判的时间表。

欧盟有27个成员国。东盟成员包括文莱、缅甸、柬埔寨、印度尼西亚、老挝、马来西亚、菲律宾、新加坡、泰国以及越南。路透社说，东盟和欧盟的双边贸易在2005年达1千370亿美元。

The European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to hold free trade talks, embarking on one of the world's largest regional trade negotiations. The agreement was reached Friday in Brunei during a meeting between members of the 10-member ASEAN organization and the European bloc.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told the Reuters news agency that the agreement was reached after two years of preparations. Neither he nor ASEAN ministers gave a time frame for the negotiations.

The European Union has 27 member nations. ASEAN members are Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Reuters says trade between the two blocs amounted to 137 billion dollars in 2005.