AMM-AEM Annual Meet Proposed To Deepen Foreign, Economic Synergy - Chairman's Statement

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- ASEAN Ministers for Foreign and Economic Affairs have recommended that their officials explore the idea of institutionalising the ASEAN Joint Foreign and Economic Ministers’ (AMM-AEM) Meeting as an annual standing engagement to be convened prior to the ASEAN Summits.

“We recognised that the current geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape poses unprecedented challenges to the region.

“We called for greater synergy across the political and economic pillars to respond to the growing economic-security nexus and navigate an increasingly complex and fragmented landscape,” they said in a Chairman’s Statement issued after the AMM-AEM Meeting here today.

The AMM-AEM Meeting was jointly chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

It was attended by ASEAN Foreign and Economic Ministers, the Secretary-General of ASEAN and the experts from the ASEAN Geoeconomic Task Force (AGTF). Timor-Leste was also in attendance as an observer.

The statement also reaffirmed ASEAN’s unwavering commitment to upholding the multilateral trading system, and underscored the importance of a predictable, transparent, inclusive, free, fair, sustainable and rules-based multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at its core.

“Amid protectionism, shifting global power dynamics, and overlapping crises, we reaffirmed the importance of ASEAN Centrality and Unity in safeguarding a peaceful, stable, and inclusive regional architecture.

“We strengthened our resolve to uphold open regionalism to build strategic trust and confidence, uphold international law, and deepen mutually beneficial partnerships and cooperation with external partners,” the statement read.

The statement also said that ASEAN Senior Officials have also been tasked, in coordination with the ASEAN Secretariat, to discuss the recommendations made by AGTF and submit their assessment and propose a way forward.

“We urged for the recommendations made by the AGTF to be aligned with the forthcoming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Strategic Plan 2026–2030 as well as the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 to ensure coherence with ASEAN’s broader vision of a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable regional economy,” they said.

-- BERNAMA