Singapore  - Gareth Thomas, British minister of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform, called for a new approach to speed up progress in talks for a free trade agreement between the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to a report in the Straits Times Thursday.

The EU-ASEAN trade pact negotiations, which started in 2007, would progress much more quickly if individual trade pacts were sealed first, serving as a prelude to a regional deal, he pointed out.

"We need to look at a new approach for EU-ASEAN talks ... try and build a regional agreement by making individual country agreements between the EU and perhaps Singapore, one or two other countries first, as a precursor to a regional agreement," the Singapore daily quoted Thomas as saying.

Thomas, on a 10-day regional tour, said he would suggest the new approach at an EU economic ministers' meeting later this month to gauge interest.

Talks had been slowed down by the complexity of negotiations but, according to a study, it would boost EU exports to ASEAN members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam by 24.2 per cent and the region's exports to the EU by 18.5 per cent.

Thomas emphasized the importance of free trade in battling the economic crisis, pointing out that a successful conclusion of the World Trade Organization's Doha Round was even more pressing now, given the financial storm.

"One of the quickest ways out of recession is to open your markets to increased opportunities for trade," said Thomas, highlighting recent estimates that the Doha Round completion could help to generate an extra 150 billion US dollar in world trade.

"It would also deliver confidence if world leaders can help put another building block in place on the road to economic recovery," he said. (dpa)