KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23, 2006 (AFP) - The United States will ink a trade and investment pact with Southeast Asia on Friday despite its economic sanctions on Myanmar, the bloc's chief said. "Yes, yes, all 10 ASEAN members will sign it (with the United States)," Association of Southeast Asian Nations secretary-general Ong Keng Yong said late Tuesday. "The United States recognises ASEAN as a group that includes Myanmar," he said, adding that the pact demonstrates the United States' commitment to strengthening economic relations with Southeast Asia. The Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA) will be signed by US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and her Southeast Asian counterparts who are meeting here this week. The United States has already signed TIFA pacts with key individual ASEAN economies, which are aimed at setting the stage for fully-fledged free-trade agreements. The ASEAN-US TIFA is expected to lay the guidelines for a future free-trade pact between the bloc and the United States, its largest trading partner. A draft copy obtained by AFP showed that the two sides would among other things strive to cut barriers to trade and investment, and protect intellectual property rights -- a sensitive issue in most ASEAN countries. "Recognising that the expansion of trade and investment, including through the reduction of related barriers and the fostering of an open and predictable environment for international trade and investment, can promote economic growth and development," it said. It called for the need to reinforce the multilateral trading system and promote transparency and good governance, including by combating and preventing unlawful activities in international trade and investment. The US and ASEAN would also establish a joint council charged with considering ways to enhance trade and investment between them. The deal is being signed despite stringest US sanctions against Myanmar, as punishment for its refusal to introduce democracy or release detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Earlier this month, US President George W. Bush renewed a one-year ban on all imports from Myanmar to signal his "serious concern" about the military regime which has been in power for four decades. The United States halted new investments to Myanmar in 1997 and imposed bans on financial transactions and imports in 2003. Visa restrictions on officials from the military junta and affiliated groups have also been implemented. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. jsm/sls/lh