Opening the 55th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting, Vietnam contributes ideas to promote intra-bloc cooperation

On the morning of August 19, the 55th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM-55) officially opened in Semarang city, Central Java province, Indonesia, with the participation of Economic Ministers of ASEAN member countries and ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn.

Khai mạc chuỗi Hội nghị Bộ trưởng Kinh tế ASEAN lần thứ 55, Việt Nam đóng góp ý kiến đẩy mạnh hợp tác nội khối. (Nguồn: ASEAN)

Opening of the 55th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting. (Source: ASEAN)

The 55th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting will take place from August 19-23, with 19 meetings and 9 main activities, discussing many important regional agendas.

The Vietnamese delegation was led by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien.

At the conference, the ministers shared information and updated the implementation of Indonesia's priority economic cooperation initiatives during its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2023, important tasks of the ASEAN Economic Community such as the ASEAN Strategy on Carbon Neutrality, preparations to launch negotiations on the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Digital Economy, the implementation and upgrading of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), as well as preparations for consultations between ASEAN Economic Ministers and partner countries.

The ministers noted that four out of seven priority economic cooperation initiatives of the 2023 ASEAN Chair Indonesia have been completed, notably the signing of the Second Protocol amending the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) within the framework of this ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meeting, as well as the launch of negotiations on the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Digital Economy at the 43rd ASEAN Summit, scheduled to take place in early September.

The ministers also spent time discussing the upgrading of the ATIGA Agreement, handling long-standing issues in the implementation of this agreement, recommendations of the High-Level Task Force on ASEAN Economic Integration related to the building of the ASEAN Economic Community vision after 2025... and reviewing preparations for the upcoming ASEAN Summit and related conferences.

In addition, the ministers also discussed internally economic cooperation activities between ASEAN and dialogue partners such as the US, China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, Russia, Canada, the United Kingdom, etc., the implementation of free trade agreements (FTAs) between ASEAN and partner countries, including upgrading the FTA between ASEAN and China, negotiating the FTA between ASEAN and Canada and the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Participating in discussions at the conference, Vietnam actively contributed opinions on issues in intra-ASEAN economic cooperation such as preparations for the signing of the Second Protocol amending the AANZFTA Agreement, negotiations to upgrade the ATIGA Agreement and preparations for the launch of negotiations on the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Digital Economy, thereby demonstrating Vietnam's strong commitment to regional economic integration, maintaining an active role in activities to create momentum for regional and global economic growth, promoting economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic as well as strengthening regional supply chains.

On the sidelines of the conference, the ministers also met and discussed with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC) about ABAC's recommendations and priorities in the coming time regarding promoting the use of electric vehicles in the ASEAN region, enhancing regional trade and investment integration, facilitating cooperation activities on sustainable development, and maintaining medical measures to respond to the pandemic.

According to the Asian Development Bank, ASEAN economic growth is expected to reach 5.1% in 2022 and is forecast to reach 4.6% and 4.9% in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

In 2022, ASEAN's trade turnover will reach 3.8 trillion USD, up 14.9% compared to 2021. China remains ASEAN's main trading partner with two-way turnover reaching 722.2 billion USD, accounting for 18.8% of the region's total trade turnover, ahead of the US (10.9%) and the European Union (7.7%).

Meanwhile, intra-ASEAN trade accounts for 22.3% of total trade turnover, up from 21.3% in 2021. In terms of investment, total capital flows into ASEAN reached 224.2 billion USD in 2022, up 5.5% compared to 2021.

According to the plan, following this conference will be a series of Economic Ministerial Consultations between ASEAN and dialogue partner countries taking place from August 20-22.

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