KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21, 2006 (AFP) - ASEAN will establish a single regulatory scheme for the region's valuable cosmetics industry from the start of 2008, the bloc's chief said Monday. "Yes, it is on track... We are happy that the private sector is responding well," ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong told reporters. The plan would establish common standards, lowering manufacturing costs and increasing trade in the goods traded within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Ong had earlier said that ASEAN needed to deregulate in order to compete for foreign direct investment. In a statement, ASEAN said there had been good progress towards establishing the cosmetics regulatory scheme by January 1, 2008. "Member countries are making necessary preparations for the implementation of the agreement on ASEAN harmonised cosmetic regulatory scheme which was signed in September 2003," it said. At their talks here this week Southeast Asian economic ministers are under pressure to speed up the creation of a single trade bloc to combat the rise of China and India, which are drawing away foreign investment from the region. ASEAN is aiming to advance economic integration by five years to 2015, casting aside tariffs and red tape which make the unified China market more attractive to manufacturers. jsm/sls/sm