Member countries also agreed 62 measures to be prioritised in the ASEAN Agenda 2020.

They included commodities commercialisation, facilitation of trade and skillful worker movement, one-stop shop ASEAN policies, the investment environment, competition policies, consumer protection, intellectual co-operation, electronic trade and boosting the role of small-medium-sized enterprises, as well as ASEAN globalisation.

Minister of Trade and Industry Trần Tuấn Anh announced the results of the AEM Retreat and ASEAN-BAC meeting at a press conference yesterday.

He said Vietnam was focused on regional economic integration and connectivity, strengthening partnerships for peace and sustainable development, and enhancing the capacity and operational efficiency of ASEAN.

“This meeting provided an important chance to discuss the ASEAN Economic Community. Twelve out of the 13 priories that Vietnam proposed have been approved,” Anh said.

“The meeting once again strongly confirmed the central role of ASEAN in dealing with global challenges and trade tensions as well as threats of epidemics. The spread of COVID-19 has posed a problem for ASEAN, but it has also created opportunities for regional countries,” he said.

He said ministers of ASEAN countries also agreed to restructure supply chains to cope with the virus.

“We also discussed how the ASEAN will recover after COVID-19, and the need to build a sustainable growth model while boosting co-operation among ASEAN members and with partners including India, Canada, New Zealand and the UK after Brexit,” he said.

Anh also said six recommendations of the 37th High-level Task Force on ASEAN Economic Integration (HLTF-EI) Meeting in Hà Nội on February of 2020 were approved by ministers at the meeting.

He said ASEAN ministers focused on restarting negotiations for the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) and co-operation with South Korea.

Public-private partnerships were also discussed at the ASEAN-BAC meeting on how to develop businesses.

Boosting investment in ASEAN countries through trade and development of medium-and-small sized enterprises was the main focus of initiatives proposed at the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) Consultation Meeting.

The meeting also raised ideas on business development in the fields of electronic trade, tourism transport and logistics.

Speaking at the press conference, ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi highly appreciated the efforts of ministers and representatives of ASEAN member countries.

“Despite the spread of COVID-19, participants worked hard to complete a very important agenda. I believe that economic engagements and negotiations will be finalised by the year end,” he said.

Relating to the ASEAN-India negotiations as part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Vietnamese minister said more technical talks were needed to complete the agreement by November.

Representatives of ASEAN countries also discussed investment service regulations and a flexible open-door market policy among members and partners, including China, Japan, Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand.

Ministers of ASEAN countries agreed to boost reforms and create a framework for closer connectivity and co-operation, diversifying supply chains and partnerships.

Participants said legal frameworks needed perfecting to boost the circulation of goods human resources and investment capital.

Despite rapid growth in the past decades, the ASEAN economy was only valued at US$3 trillion per year with 9.1 per cent growth, while commodities trade reached $700 billion.

The ASEAN Economic Ministers Caucus Meeting on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be held on Wednesday. — VNS

Deputy Prime Minister and Head of State Emergency Commission U.Enkhtuvshin reported “At 2 AM last night, new coronavirus registered in Mongolia from a citizen of France. At 6 AM today, State Emergency Commission held emergency meeting and made related decisions. We are going to make list of people who had same flight and co-workers, and test them.”

Within the framework, intercity traffic is stopped from 7 AM of March 10 to 7 AM of March 16.

Minister of Health D.Sarangerel said “A citizen of France who arrived through Moscow-Ulaanbaatar flight on March 2 resulted positive to Covid-19. Test will be repeated for confirmation. That citizen arrived in Mongolia on March 2 and was advised to stay indoor for 14 days, but he ignored it. List of 80 people who appealed directly in rural area and 40 people who met him at first in Ulaanbaatar are prepared. We are able to isolate those people and test them. Citizens need to follow instructions from State Emergency Commission and Health organizations. If people were close to those people, they are advised to isolate themselves at home”.

Despite the slowing pace of daily increase of confirmed cases, small-scale clusters of infections continue to emerge in the country’s most populated areas — Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, keeping health authorities on their toes.

The latest mass infections were reported at a call center in southwestern Seoul on Tuesday. At least 32 people, including employees and their families, were diagnosed with COVID-19 — the largest cluster of infections in Seoul so far.

The number of confirmed cases is feared to shoot up as some 150 employees and trainees working at the call center are being tested for the virus as of Tuesday morning, according to the Guro District office.

A 12-story building in the neighborhood Sindorim was shut down for disinfection late Monday after employees on its 11th floor tested positive for the virus, according to the district office.

Fears about community spread are mounting as the employees reside in different parts of Seoul and cities outside the capital city — as many as 22 cases were confirmed in Incheon alone.

Of the 131 new cases across the country, 92 people were in the southeastern city of Daegu at the heart of the country’s virus outbreak, and 10 North Gyeongsang Province, according to data tallied at Monday midnight by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of cases there represent 90 percent of the country’s total.

Eleven new cases were reported each in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, four in Incheon and two each in Sejong and South Chungcheong Province, according to the data.

Nearly 80 percent of Korea’s coronavirus cases are classified as cluster infection cases.

Some 63 percent of the country’s total cases are linked to a branch of the reclusive religious sect Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

So far, 54 people, mostly those who are in their 60s or older with underlying illnesses, have died from COVID-19, with the overall fatality rate at 0.7 percent. The death rate stands at 4.2 percent for those in their 70s and 6.8 percent for those in their 80s.

A total of 7,212 people are in quarantine, while 247 people were released after making full recoveries.

The number of people being tested for the virus stood at 18,452. The country has so far tested a total of 202,631 people, with 184,179 testing negative as of Monday midnight.

The government has been ramping up lobbying efforts to ensure that the United States will not restrict the entry of passengers from Japan amid the spread of the new coronavirus.

The government’s efforts come out of concerns that such a restriction would deal a significant blow to Japan’s economic activities, and that European countries may follow suit.

Japan is making its case to the United States that any such decision should be based on accurate information, explaining how the government has been undertaking infection control measures.

“The United States has not implemented any entry restriction measures on Japan, nor has there been any concrete talk of introducing such a move,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Friday at the House of Representatives Foreign Committee. “We will continue to make careful efforts.”

Tokyo has increased pressure on Washington because there is a growing concern in the United States about the infection risk in Japan.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States is closely watching Italy, South Korea and Japan.

On Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urged residents returning from Japan to remain isolated at home for 14 days.

Should the United States impose an entry restriction on Japan, it will seriously affect the economies of both countries.

At the time of a 2018 survey by the Foreign Ministry, there were 8,929 Japanese-affiliated companies operating in the United States, while the number of people traveling to the United States had reached 3.49 million, according to a survey in the same year by the Japan National Tourism Organization.

“If Japan’s ally, the United States, restricts entries from Japan, it would have a great impact on the economy, and on politics as well,” a senior Foreign Ministry official said.

Twenty-seven countries and regions including Pacific islands and Middle East nations have restricted entries from Japan, as of 1 p.m. Saturday.

If the United States, boasting high medical standards, imposes entry restrictions on Japan, European countries will likely follow suit, the official said.

The Foreign Ministry and the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry have been cooperating with the U.S. government on this issue.

Since February, Japanese Ambassador to the United States Shinsuke Sugiyama has met with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to explain that the number of new coronavirus infections in Japan has been kept below that of other countries on a population basis.

Sugiyama also has told Azar that Japan is strengthening its containment measures at ports and airports.

The two ministries are also lobbying the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Embassy in Japan.

Passengers can get free flights under certain conditions to Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, Singapore and Perth in Australia, as well as slashed prices for flights to other destinations, under the carrier’s BIG Sale program.

The tickets can be purchased online starting from Sunday to March 14 for flights that depart before July 1.

AirAsia Indonesia president director Veranita Yosephine said in a statement on Friday that the airline was looking for ways it could help the Indonesian government to stimulate tourism and maintain the country’s economy growth, “especially in this challenging period”.

The carrier also advised passengers to maintain their health before booking trips. Passengers were also advised to maintain their hygiene while flying with the airline.

The government announced last week that it would issue a stimulus package of Rp 10.3 trillion (US$722 million) in the form of incentives to, among other recipients, airlines and travel agents to help reduce the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the country’s economy.

Of the total stimulus, around Rp 443 billion will be allocated to improve domestic air travel, while Rp 298.5 billion will be disbursed to attract foreign tourists through incentives for airlines and travel agents, joint promotions and hiring influencers for promotions.

The government, however, decided on Monday to hold off on giving out the incentives following the announcement of the country’s first two confirmed COVID-19 cases. To date, Indonesia has confirmed four COVID-19 cases.

Tourist destinations in the country, including Bali, have started to feel the pinch of the virus outbreak as people remain reluctant to travel despite lower airfares and other incentives offered. (ars)

At a daily press conference, a Health Ministry spokesman advised Thai citizens against travelling to Singapore, Japan, France and Germany.

It had declared China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Italy and Iran as “dangerous communicable disease areas” last Thursday.

“As more countries have been affected by Covid-19, Thailand will have a higher risk of imported Covid-19 cases,” Dr Thanarak Phaliphat, deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department, told a press briefing.

“Currently, we’re trying to adjust our measures to handle the higher risk,” he added.

The remark came amid mixed messaging from the government on a self-quarantine requirement for travellers from high-risk countries.

Last Friday, Dr Thanarak confirmed that a two-week self-quarantine order was not mandatory, but only recommended for those coming from countries hit by the virus.

Only undocumented Thai workers returning from in South Korea are being put under quarantine in government facilities.

Thailand is the latest country to warn against travel to Singapore.

In early February, Kuwait, Qatar, South Korea and Israel urged their citizens to defer non-essential travel to the Republic after its disease alert level was raised to code orange.

Indonesia and Taiwan followed with travel alerts, telling their citizens to take precautions if visiting Singapore.

Britain has told travellers returning from nine countries and territories, including Singapore, to monitor their health and practise social distancing for 14 days following their return.

India in late February advised its citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to the city-state.

Singapore has imposed travel restrictions of its own over the Covid-19 outbreak. All new visitors with recent travel history to mainland China, Iran, Northern Italy and South Korea within the last 14 days have been barred from entry or transit through Singapore.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is projecting a 25 to 30 per cent drop in visitor arrivals this year as the deadly coronavirus continues its global spread.

This estimation is steeper than the 19 per cent decline in 2003, when Singapore endured the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak.

South Korea reported 367 new cases of coronavirus infections Sunday, the lowest daily increase in over 10 days, but officials were cautious about a slowing trend, saying the numbers could shoot up anytime soon.

The total reported cases here stood at 7,134, with 50 deaths on Sunday morning, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.

Nearly 80 percent of local coronavirus cases are classified as cluster infection cases, while 20.6 percent are sporadic with their exact infection routes being scrutinized, health authorities said Sunday.

It was belatedly made public on Saturday by the Daegu Metropolitan Government that 46 cases had been confirmed at an apartment block in the city. As of Sunday afternoon, out of 140 residents, 46 people tested positive, all of whom are followers of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. Eighty people tested negative and 14 were awaiting their rest results.

Another cluster of infections was reported Friday, with a total of 13 people confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 at Bundang Jesaeng Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. An epidemiological study to identify an infection route is underway.

The majority of the new cases on Sunday were confirmed from the southeastern city of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.

Some 297 cases were confirmed in Daegu and 32 in North Gyeongsang Province — accounting for 90 percent of the new cases, according to data tallied at Saturday midnight by the KCDCP.

Twelve new cases were reported in Seoul, 11 in Gyeonggi Province, six in South Chungcheong Province and 4 in North Chungcheong Province, according to the data.

So far, 50 people, mostly those who are in their 50s or older with underlying illnesses, have died from COVID-19, with the overall fatality rate at 0.7 percent. The death rate stands at 4.4 percent for those in their 70s and 6.6 percent for those in their 80s.

A total of 7,134 people were in quarantine, while 130 people were released from quarantine after making full recoveries on Sunday.

The number of people being tested for the virus stood at 19,376. The country has so far tested a total of 181,384 people, with 162,008 testing negative as of Saturday midnight.

Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin said at a briefing Sunday that he will file complaints against members of the Shincheonji church’s Daegu branch who fail to get tested by Monday.

Some 64 percent of the confirmed cases in Korea are linked to a branch of the Shincheonji church in Daegu – the largest cluster of infections in Korea.

Among 8,269 Shincheonji members secured by the municipality, 91 people have refused to take the virus test and 23 of them remain out of reach, Kwon said.

In the wake of a shortage of masks, the government’s measures to stabilize the supply of masks come into force starting Monday.

Under the new numbered system, Koreans can buy two state-supplied masks per week from pharmacies based on the year of birth with valid identification cards. Those born in years ending one and six are able to buy masks on Monday, for example. Those who do not make purchases on a weekday will be allowed to buy masks on the weekend.

Foreigners can buy masks too with their foreigner registration card and health insurance certificate.

Amid coronavirus fears, some 103 countries and regions are imposing travel warnings on Korea, entry bans or toughened quarantine procedures on visitors from here.

A total of 103 countries and territories were enforcing or planning to impose entry restrictions or tougher quarantine procedures on people from South Korea over coronavirus concerns, foreign ministry data showed Sunday.

The tally, as of 2 p.m., remains unchanged from late Saturday’s figure, but the number of countries and territories barring the entry of travelers from all of Korea rose by one to 37, according to the foreign ministry website.

Saudi Arabia was moved to this list as it now bars the entry of people who have been in Korea, Japan, Italy and Azerbaijan in the past two weeks. The Middle Eastern nation had imposed the ban for China, Taiwan and a few others, whereas for Korea, it had only barred the entry of tourists.

Some of them apply the ban to a few other nearby cities and counties as well, like the Maldives, which imposes the ban on Korea’s second-largest city of Busan.

Starting Sunday, Indonesia is banning the entry of foreigners who have visited Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.

Japan is set to adopt a temporary 14-day self-quarantine for people flying in from Korea and China from Monday and ask them to refrain from using public transport. Flights can only land at Narita International Airport near Tokyo and Kansai International Airport in Osaka.

A total of 15 countries and territories, including 18 Chinese provinces, are currently quarantining people from South Korea or other virus-affected countries at designated facilities.

The number of countries and territories imposing stricter immigration controls, such as a suspension on the issuance of arrival visas, or requiring or recommending self-quarantine stood at 45.

Of them, Cyprus has toughened the self-quarantine recommendation by conducting surveys and temperature checks on people, including its own citizens, coming from Korea, China and other virus-hit countries.

Tunisia also now places all foreigners flying in from Korea, China, Italy and Iran under a 14-day self-quarantine regardless of whether they show possible symptoms.

South Korea added 367 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday morning, bringing the nation’s total number of infections to 7,134, with 50 deaths.

Covid-19 Asia and world data: Sun Mar 8 –

China Mainland +44 to 80,695

Deaths +27 to 3,097

Recovery 57,065

S Korea     7,134 (93D) (6,875R)

Japan         461 (6D) (379R)

(ship)          705 (6D)

S’pore         138 (48R)

HK               108 (2D) (55R)

Malaysia      93 (70R)

Thailand      50 (1D) (18R)

Taiwan         45 (1D) (29R)

India            34 (31R)

Vietnam       20 (4R)

Macau         10 (9R)

Pakistan        6 (5R)

Ph’pines        6 (1D) (3R)

Indonesia      4 (4R)

Cambodia     2 (1R)

Nepal            1 (1R)

Sri Lanka       1 (1R)

Bhutan 1 (1R)

Maldives 2 (2R)

Italy        5,883 (233D) (5,061R)

Iran         5,823 (145D) (4,009R)

Germany    799 (782R)

France        949 (11D) (921R)

Spain          500 (10D) (463R)

USA            437 (19D) (403R)

Switz’d       268 (1D) (264R)

UK              206 (2D) (189R)

Neth’ds      188(1D) (187R)

Belgium     169(1R) (168R)

Norway      156 (1R) (156R)

Sweden      161 (1R) (160R)

Bahrain      85 (4R) (79R)

Kuwait       61 (1R) (60R)

Aust’lia       75 (2D) (50R)

Austria       81 (2R) (79R)

Canada      60 (8R) (52R)

Greece       66 (66R)

Iceland       50 (1R) (49R)

Iraq             54 (4D) (49R)

UAE           45 (7R) (38R)

Denmark     27 (1R) (26R)

Lebanon     28 (1R) (27R)

S’Marino     23 (1D) (22R)

Cz’Republic 26 (26R)

Ireland 19 (19R)

Algeria       19 (19R)

Oman         16 (2R) (14R)

Israel          25 (2R) (22R)

Palestine 22 (19R)

Finland        18 (1R) (17R)

Egypt 48 (1R) (47R)

Ecuador      13

Brazil 19 (19R)

Georgia 13 (13R)

Russia 15 (2R) (12R)

Portugal      21 (21R)

Croatia        12 (12R)

Slovania 12 (12R)

Estonia 10

Romania 13 (3R) (10R)

Qatar           12 (12R)

Afg’an  1, N Macedonia 3, Nigeria 1, , Mexico 6, Azerbajan 9, Belarus 6, Lithuania 1, New Zealand 5, Monaco 1, Domican Republic 3, Armenia 1, Andorra 2, Luxembourg 2, Saudi Arabia 5, Jordan 1, Senegal 4, Ukraine 1, Gibraltar 1, Tunesia 1, Argentina 8, Chile 4, Latvia 1, Morocco 2, Liechtenstein 1, Poland 5, St Barthelemy 3, Bosnia 3, S Africa 1, French Guiana 5, Hungary 4, Faroe Island 1, Cameroon 1, Vatican 1, Serbia 1, Peru 1, Togo 1, Costa Rica 1, Colombia 1, Malta 1, Slovakia 1

(D=Death, R=Recovered)

Asia News Network as of 9.30 am Bangkok time

Effective Monday Seoul advised “restraint,” representing the third level in the country’s four-notch warning system. A week ago it advised “caution,” a warning one notch lower.

The ministry cited growing concerns about the continued spread of the coronavirus in Japan and how it could affect Koreans, saying the international community has expressed doubts about what it calls Japan’s “opaque” reporting and “weak” response to the virus.

“We advise Koreans residing in Japan to take extra precautions and for citizens who are considering traveling to the area to think carefully,” it said.

The ministry said it would continue to monitor the situation closely and review its alert levels accordingly.

The strongest warning level, “recommend withdrawal,” remains in place for the Fukushima region due to 2011 nuclear disaster.

The latest travel warning has been interpreted as a “tit-for-tat” response to Tokyo’s latest travel restrictions against people entering the country from Korea.

Korea announced Friday that it was halting its visa waiver program and invalidating any travel permits already issued to Japanese, starting Monday, in response to Japan’s decision to impose a two-week quarantine on all visitors from Korea and suspend visa-free entry for Koreans.

Both Korea and Japan have been hit hard by the coronavirus, which originated in China late last year. Korea had reported 6,767 confirmed cases and 45 deaths as of Saturday. Japan has seen more than 1,100 cases, including 706 people who were aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was quarantined near the capital city.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)