Asean to be more business-friendly ahead of 2015 integration
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Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Thursday vowed to find more ways to facilitate trade and investment ahead of its planned European Union-like community by the end of 2015.
The leaders of the 10-country grouping noted that while 77.45 of the Asean Economic Community blueprint have been implanted, a lot of work remains to be done.
"We tasked our ministers to develop a roadmap that will set out initiatives to ease the way of doing business, address investment impediments, institutionalise discussions on regulatory improvements and incorporated innovation policies," according to a statement from the chairman.
Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the chair of Asean this year, said leaders are committed to overcoming the challenges brought about by economic integration.
