AEC prepares for 20th Asean Summit to be held next week
The Asean Economic Community (AEC) Council met on October 18 to make preparations for the 20th Asean summit scheduled to be hosted by Brunei between October 26-28.
The summit, to be held via video conferencing, will focus on accelerating the region’s economic recovery and transformation of the digital economy.
Trade between Thailand and Asean countries grew 16.25 per cent in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period in 2020, the Commerce Ministry said on Saturday.
Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general Department of Trade Negotiations talked to the reporters after attending the 20th AEC Council meeting in order to prepare for the Asean summit that will be held from Tuesday to Thursday. Auramon said that the meeting was preceded by a special interface between the Asean Digital Ministers and the AEC Council to exchange views on strategic measures to advance the digital transformation agenda in the region.
“The council exchanged views on the challenges faced by AEC Sectoral Bodies and the proposed recommendations in addressing them by emphasising the importance of effective implementation of the Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the AEC blueprint 2025 recommendations. The council also took note of the progress in the development of the Asean community’s post-2025 vision and discussed the global megatrends and emerging issues.”
“Further, the council also endorsed the framework for circular economy for the Asean economic community, the Bandar Seri Begawan Roadmap (BSBR) – An Asean digital transformation agenda to accelerate Asean’s economic recovery and digital economy integration and the Asean collaboration framework towards strengthening evidence-based MSME Policies,” said Auramon.
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From January to August, the trade between Thailand and Asean was worth US$72.546 billion, an increase of 16.25 per cent from the same period in 2020. Thai exports to Asean valued $42.025 billion while the main export markets are Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines.
