Grouping urged to work together for 2015 integration

The secretary-general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) called on Asean member states to work collectively towards achieving the Asean Economic Community by 2015.

Sok Chenda Sophea, who chaired the 2nd Asean Investment Forum (AIF) held in Phnom Penh, said Asean members must think collectively to attract foreign direct investments in an increasingly volatile global economy.

Events such as the euro zone crisis have changed the world’s economic landscape, said Sok. “Whenever these changes occur, countries have to adapt to the new situation. So this forum is very timely for us to sit down together and see how can we take into account this new landscape to try to attract more investment [into Asean].

“In addition to this, individually, each country’s job is to attract FDI. But at the same time, we must think collectively. Can we try to do something that is of interest to all of us?

“The focus is the Asean Community. The theme for this year’s summit is ‘One Community, One Destiny’. So let’s make this concrete and do it together because a lot of observers seem to doubt that we can make it happen,” he said.

During the 2nd Asean Investment Forum (AIF), delegates discussed the formulation of an Asean Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) strategy amidst a changing economic landscape.

Heads of investment promotion agencies of Asean member states also looked into developing a common theme to market and promote Asean as a single integrated investment area.

Meanwhile, the Asean Business and Investment Summit which just ended is setting the stage for further development of the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

The business summit had an open dialogue session with business leaders on “Opportunities and Challenges of Expanding Markets in East Asia”.

The session discussed in-depth how Asean businesses can penetrate markets outside of Asean borders through the existing Asean+1 Free Trade Agreements and Comprehensive Economic Partnerships.

Parallel sessions on “Building an Interconnected Asean Economic Community” saw delegates undergo two separate discussions on “The Potential of Renewable Energy in Asean” and “Capitalising on Asean Connectivity”.

This was followed by another dialogue session on the prospects for increasing Asean’s position as a competitive investment hub, which looked into the importance of the promotion of good corporate governance by Asean governments and its private sectors, and also explored the potential of the recently launched Asean Comprehen-sive Investment Agreement (ACIA) to increase both the quantity and quality of investments in the region.

The session titled “Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar: The Next Frontier of Asean” explored the least developed Asean member states and the increasing significance of their roles in helping shape the Asean integration process.

There was also parallel sessions to discuss ways to empower SMEs, with delegates deliberating on promoting the funding of SMEs and the importance of fostering entrepreneurship in the region as one of the key drivers of growth. In a separate discussion, “In Looking Forward: What does the future hold for Asean”, delegates looked at viewpoints shared by the secretary-general of Asean, the Organis-ation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Asian Develop-ment Bank Institute.