CHANCES SLIM FOR 'ASEAN PLUS 3': TAIWANESE EXPERT.

TAIPEI, Nov 1 Asia Pulse - The possibility of forming a bloc of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China, South Korea and Japan by 2010 is not very likely, Fuhwa Financial Holdings Co. Chairman Yen Ching-chang said Monday.

Yen made the comment at a seminar on global market deployment when answering questions from local businessmen about whether Taiwan would become an outcast at a time when trade bloc groupings are increasingly taking shape around the world.

Yen said that the chances of the formation of the so-called "ASEAN plus 3" before 2010 were very slim due to rivalry between China and Japan.

Even were such a group formed in the near future, it would be a loose organization, he said.

In addition, he contended that the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) pacts China has signed with Hong Kong and Macau have had no noticeable impact on Taiwan's economy, mainly because of the territories' different industrial structures.

For example, Taiwan has a steel industry, unlike either Hong Kong or Macau, he said.

According to Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Ruey-long, the economies of Taiwan and Hong Kong do not overlap in terms of agriculture and industry.