21st AEM Reaches Peak

By Mohd Khairi Iham Amran KOTA BAHARU (Kelantan, Malaysia), March 2 (Bernama) -- The 21st ASEAN Economic Ministers' Retreat reaches its peak when all economic ministers of ASEAN and the organisation secretary General, Le Luong Minh, meet Sunday. The last day of the retreat kick start with a briefing by the chairman of ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Dr Mohd Munir Abdul Majid on the feedback from the private sector on the ASEAN Economic Community. Mohd Munir would also submit seven proposals, covering eight sectors, to be implemented before the AEC kickoff to smoothen the region's integration as a single economy as well as previous outstanding proposals such as ASEAN business card and ASEAN lane at all international entry points. Among the proposals that will be submitted are the setting up of the ASEAN Youth Entrepreneur Association and the ASEAN Women Entrepreneur Association to address the needs of two of the major groups in the region's demographic structure. Also to be proposed are the improvement of e-commerce infrastructure in the region as well as the extension of the ASEAN Internship Programme beyond university to vocational and technical training centres. After the briefing, two retreat sessions would convene where the ministers are expected to consider and provide guidance on the work to draft the post-2015 economic vision and plan for ASEAN. Before the end of the retreat, the ministers are scheduled to visits the Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Security Complex and Duty Free Zone at Rantau Panjang. The visit would give the ministers a first hand view on the procedures in place at the border in terms of cross-border movements of goods, vehicles and people and issues faced by on the ground. It would also highlight the importance of the border trade in driving the expansion of intra-ASEAN trade. Started on Friday, the 21st AEM is one of many ASEAN meetings held in conjunction with Malaysia's leadership in the economic pact this year chaired by the Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed. The gathering comes at a crucial time to formulate plans for the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by Dec 31, 2015. -- BERNAMA