Asean economy poised to grow 6% in next five years

Tan Sri Panglima Andrew Sheng National Economic Advisory one of the speaker at the MCA organised of the Chinese Economic Congress at Prince Hotel yesterday

KUALA LUMPUR: The Asean economy has bright prospects and has the potential to grow at 6.0% annually in the next five years, in spite of the global geopolitical issues, said Khazanah Nasional Bhd board member, Tan Sri Andrew Sheng.

He said the Asean economic growth was highly discussed in a special session at the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2017 held in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, adding the digital economy was one way to advance the development in the region.

“Everybody has good confidence about Malaysia and very comfortable on Asean. The industry participants were also confident that the maritime route, which will go through the Straits of Melaka, will be very good (to the region’s economic growth),” he told reporters on the sidelines of the two-day forum.

Sheng, who is also distinguished fellow of the Asia Global Institute at the University of Hong Kong, said the forum had anticipated the Asean economy to grow by more than 6% in the next five years.

This was in line with the optimism over a better global economy inspite of the worries about the geopolitical tensions, he said.

“People think Asean is a very young economy. The potential for Asean to grow is huge,” he said.

Sheng noted that the inclusive small and medium enterprises development, which could help spur job creation, should be highlighted while implementing the digital strategy to boost the Asean economy. - Bernama