15 Of 18 ASEAN Economic Initiatives Expected To Meet Targets By October
By Ahmad Erwan Othman
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 (Bernama) — Malaysia is confident that it will be able to achieve 15 of the 18 Priority Economic Deliverables (PED) in time for the 47th ASEAN Summit next month.
Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry’s (MITI) deputy secretary-general (Trade) Mastura Ahmad Mustafa said of the 18 initiatives set by Malaysia this year, one has been fully completed, while another eight are close to reaching their targets.
The PEDs spearheaded by Malaysia will drive regional economic integration as part of efforts to establish the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).
“We are confident that 15 out of the 18 will be achieved by the ASEAN Summit in October, while the remaining three are expected to be completed by year-end,” she told reporters at the Preparatory Senior Economic Officials’ Meeting (Prep-SEOM) here today.
She said that the PEDs which are almost completed include the signing of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) 3.0 and the new ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), both set to be endorsed at the ASEAN Summit.
According to Mastura, today’s discussion only involved ASEAN member states, with all parties sharing their views and understanding on regional economic issues.
She added that the Prep-SEOM, held at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), also focused on 10 key agendas, including the status of PED implementation under Malaysia’s commitments this year.
Earlier today, Mastura had chaired the Prep-SEOM meeting, which was also attended by ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) deputy secretary-general, Satvinder Singh and Timor-Leste’s representative to ASEAN, Augusto Jr Trindade.
ASEAN comprises 10 member states, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
-- BERNAMA