KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14, 2006 (AFP) - Malaysia's trade minister said Monday that Southeast Asian nations had to make serious efforts to cut red tape in order to speed up moves towards a regional economic common market. Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz said regional economic ministers meeting here next week would look at fast-tracking the creation of an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015, five years ahead of schedule, but bureaucratic barriers stood in the way. "The test is in whether each country really gets down to the serious business of identifying any bureaucratic constraints within its own borders that does not allow for this seamless production base and seamless market," she told reporters. "It's difficult to say we want it done quickly and then not to monitor your own customs, not to monitor your own administrative bureaucracy," she said. Rafidah, who is chairing the ministerial meeting in the capital Kuala Lumpur, said Malaysian companies were still experiencing difficulties accessing the markets of other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members. "Each government must take its responsibility seriously to address market issues. The policy is there, the measures are there, but the implementation may not be 100 percent," she added. ASEAN economic ministers meeting from August 21 will discuss progress on regional economic integration and measures for trade liberalisation, a statement from Malaysia's trade ministry said Monday. Representatives from Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea and the United States will also be on hand, many looking at the progress of negotiations on free trade agreements (FTAs) or economic partnerships, it said. ASEAN has successfully negotiated a pact with China to create the world's biggest trade zone and similar plans are in the works with South Korea and India. The grouping is also expected to finalise a trade and investment framework agreement with the US at the meeting, said the ministry. The 10-nation ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ey/sls/lh