DESARU: All 18 priority economic deliverables (PEDs) proposed by Malaysia under the Asean economic community (AEC) have all been unanimously accepted during the 31st Asean Economic Ministers' Retreat, says Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
The Investment, Trade and Industry Minister said that these include nine PEDs under the Asean economic ministers' purview. Among the supported and endorsed initiatives are the conclusion of negotiations and the signing of the second protocol to amend the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (Atiga), the signing of the Asean-China Free Trade Area, and the substantial conclusion of the review of the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement (Aitiga).
Others include a joint declaration on economic cooperation between Asean and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), adoption of the Asean Sustainable Investment Guidelines (Asig), development of policy recommendation and guidelines to support Asean electric vehicle EV implementation roadmap, Asean centre of excellence for micro small and medium industries (MSME) in green transition, Asean framework for integrated semiconductor supply chain (AFISS) and substantial conclusion of the Asean digital economy framework agreement (DEFA) negotiations.
He added that the other nine PEDs which were also accepted are in areas such as climate financing, development of Asean capital markets, energy cooperation, agriculture, critical minerals, tourism, tech start-up, AI safety network and payment connectivity.
"As the chair, Malaysia will like to thank all Asean member states for their express support and commitment to ensure the timely implementation of the PEDs," he said, adding that they also discussed their plans and visions for the next phase of Asean economic integration post-2025, namely the development of the AEC strategic plan 2026-2030.
"This strategic plan is now on track for adoption by Asean Leaders at the upcoming 46th Asean Summit in May this year, together with the overarching AEC vision 2045," he said at the end of the retreat.
He said the AEC strategic plan aimed to attain an action-oriented, sustainable, enterprising, adaptable, nimble and inclusive AEC.
"We also adopted several key initiatives of Asean, particularly the implementation of a roadmap for the Asean digital unique business registration numbers (Ubin), guiding principles for negotiations for the Asean framework agreement on intellectual property cooperation (AFAIPC) 2.0 and Asean pharmaceutical regulatory framework agreement (APRFA)," he said, adding that all these documents laid important foundations in different areas of work to create a more competitive economy as well as facilitate trade and business in the region.
He stressed that as the backbone of regional trade, the upgraded version of the Atiga will elevate trade relations between Asean member states, especially against the backdrop of current global economic uncertainties.
"We encouraged the officials to continue their negotiations and reaffirmed our commitment to conclude negotiations within this year. We anticipate the signing of the upgraded Atiga to be held during the 47th Asean Summit
On discussions on DEFA, he described it as a landmark agreement and a new driver for socio-economic growth towards an Asean wide digital economy transformation.
He added that they also had a productive discussion on Asean’s economic relations with external partners.
"We also had a good exchange of views on how we could step up our economic engagement with them.
"Additionally we will also convene the inaugural Asean GCC-China Summit at the sidelines of the Asean Summit in May 2025. This is seen as a good way of engaging Asean’s external partners, by forging new collaborations that will be able to open up new opportunities in driving our economy," he said.
