ASEAN Leaders In Final Push For Economic Recovery

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ASEAN Leaders met virtually yesterday and today for the 38th and 39th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits, chaired by Brunei Darussalam.

The Malaysian delegation was led by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, and accompanied by Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and International Trade and Industry minister, Azmin Ali.

Speaking at the summit, the Malaysian PM highlighted the importance of embracing the new norm of conducting economic engagement through digital platforms, stressing that digital transformation in ASEAN has been accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this regard, he said the finalisation of the Bandar Seri Begawan Roadmap which is one of the Priority Economic Deliverables that reflects ASEAN’s latest commitment towards accelerating regional recovery from the impacts of the pandemic and becoming more resilient in facing future shocks by leveraging on digital transformation.

“This would enable robust ASEAN digital economy to further expand regional trade including the advancement of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). ASEAN also needs to close the digital divide through regional cooperation to ensure an inclusive expansion of the digital economy. It is important to create a healthy ecosystem for digitally-enabled firms to play a role in converting digital technology into social-economic benefits,” he said at the summit.

Ismail Sabri echoed the common position held by ASEAN Leaders on the need for fair and equitable access to vaccines along the lines of “multilateralism in vaccines” so as to ensure that no nation is left behind.

“In moving towards post-pandemic recovery, it is imperative that we focus on the full implementation of the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF), including the early entry-into-force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement by January 2022 to spur the economic recovery process in the region.”

On this note, Malaysia reiterated its strong commitment to ratify the agreement by the end of the year as it will further facilitate trade, services and investment within the region as well as boost market access opportunities and bring job creation which is direly needed to resuscitate and rejuvenate Malaysia’s economy and further strengthen Malaysia’s position as a global trading nation.

Besides the ASEAN Summits, the Leaders also met and shared views with the leaders of five ASEAN Dialogue Partners, namely, the Republic of Korea, China and the United States, Japan and Australia.

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