Southeast Asia and Europe are working toward for a free trade pact. This is their way of fighting protectionism and the threat of global trade wars. The US is embroiled in trade war with China and close allies including the European Union, imposing tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods and heightening fears of economic pain that could spread worldwide.

The EU has assured Southeast Asia countries that they can count on Europe as a free trade partner. The EU has been negotiating bilateral trade accords with several Asean states and hopes these will be the stepping stone towards a future region-to-region deal. There is concern over looming trade wars since a war has no winners.

Asean, a 10-nation region of 650 million people with some of the world’s fastest growing emerging economies, has been keenly forging free trade pacts among its members and regional trading partners. The EU and Asean launched talks towards a trade pact in 2007, but the EU opted out of the process two years later -- partly due to problems with the then-military ruled Myanmar. But both sides agreed to reboot trade ties last year with the possibility of an accord between the two regions.