James Kon
The ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) urged policymakers to take concrete action on trade facilitation, connectivity and digital transformation during its online dialogue session with ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) on Wednesday.
ASEAN-BAC Chair Neak Oknha Kith Meng urged the AEM to implement critical reforms which are crucial for the realisation of the 2025 ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Strategic Blueprint, the five to six perfect annual trajectory growth of ASEAN and ASEAN as the fourth largest economy in the world by 2030.
He also urged economic ministers to push for full Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) participation of all 10 ASEAN member states, as well as for a green and sustainable economic recovery.
He emphasised that the private and public sectors should work closely to address challenges together to realise the ASEAN aspiration.
Meanwhile, Legislative Council member and Co-Chair of the ASEAN-BAC 2022 Yang Berhormat Siti Rozaimeriyanty binti Dato Seri Laila Jasa Haji Abdul Rahman updated the AEM on the Harnessing Impact With Resilient Employability Digitally (HIRED) legacy project and the Chairmanship 2021 report.
She said three initiatives in the pipeline are data analytics pilot programme working bilaterally with United Kingdom’s (UK)-Department for International trade, launching of a private sector page on the SEA-VET.net in collaboration with GIZ RECOTVET and SEAMEO Voctech, and seeking endorsement support from the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on micro, small and medium enterprises (ACCMSME) in expanding the project across the region.
She said the ASEAN BAC Chairmanship Annual Report 2021 is in the finalisation process.
ASEAN BAC Brunei member and CEO of Dynamik Technologies Haslina binti Haji Mohd Taib updated the AEM on ASEAN Digital Gateway, an initiative launched during the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2021 to facilitate safer travels, seamless processes, and provide standardised, integrated platform, protocols, and ecosystem across ASEAN.
“Since the launch, the legacy project has further called for the standardisation of vaccination certificate, clarity and harmonisation of quarantine period and swabs across the region.
Essential data required for travel are encrypted and exchanged on private permissioned blockchain, while ensuring national data sovereignty,” she said.
The dialogue was chaired by Cambodian Minister of Commerce and AEM Chair Pan Sorasak and was attended by the AEM of 10 ASEAN member countries, senior officials, ASEAN-BAC members and other representatives from various organisations.
ASEAN-BAC members also provided updates on other projects and interventions including ASEAN Travel Wallet, Digital Trade Connect, Smart Growth Connect, MSME Empowerment, Green and Sustainable Economy Working Group, recommendation on issues related to trade facilitation, and Business Sentiment from Myanmar.
The AEM and ASEAN Secretary-General commended the achievements by ASEAN-BAC and took note of recommendations by ASEAN-BAC for consideration and further actions. They urged stakeholders to work closely with ASEAN-BAC.
