According to a World Bank report, half the growth in world trade before the year 2000 will come from Asia, so if the EU wishes to institutionalize its links with the region, the most practical way to do so, and the least likely to encounter resistance, is to start from economic and trade cooperation.
世界銀行報告，兩千年以前，世界貿易成長的一半將來自亞洲，因此歐體欲建立與亞洲的制度化聯繫，最符合實際而且不會遭致阻力的就是由經貿合作下手。