Four working groups will be set up to facilitate trade and investment between ASEAN Plus Six ( China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand).

ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan made this remark on Sunday at Putrajaya, Malaysia's federal administration center, after the just-concluded 16th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Retreat.

Surin said that issues pertaining to the rules of origin, customs regulations, flows of goods and services, as well as tariffs would be studied so that ASEAN and East Asia could respond better to the global expectations of the region.

The secretary general pointed out that ASEAN and East Asia were deemed to be the locomotive for global economic recovery and therefore, the issue of ASEAN centrality was brought up in the AEM informal meeting.

Surin said that ASEAN was not affected as negatively as other part of the world by the global slowdown and in fact, ASEAN was bouncing back faster and had become more resilient with economic growth returning.

He also said that ASEAN was still on track to move towards becoming a single market entity by establishing the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

While all the obstacles had been resolved, Surin also noted that all ASEAN member states agreed to the deadline of implementing all the framework agreements related to trade and investments.

Meanwhile, Surin said that ASEAN member countries were looking at ways to coordinate among themselves to project their voices and profiles on to world stage.

The 16th AEM Retreat was held Sunday. All the 10 ASEAN member countries participated in the informal meeting. Outcomes of the meeting will be conveyed to the 42nd ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting and Related Meetings in Vietnam this August.