ASEAN Leaders Confident Region Will Post 4.4 Pct GDP Growth In 2015

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- ASEAN leaders have expressed confidence that the forecasted real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.4 per cent will be realised this year, said the chairman's statement following the 27th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits which ended here on last Sunday. The statement said ASEAN's GDP is projected to grow by 4.9 per cent in 2016 with the anticipated improvements in the global economic environment. "The economic performance of ASEAN remains relatively stable despite the volatile global economic environment, such as the impact of the drop in global oil prices, the depreciation in regional currencies against the US dollar and the slowing growth in China," it added. The statement said despite the challenging economic environment, ASEAN leaders remain firmly committed to further regional integration efforts. "The continued broadening and deepening of economic integration is critical for ASEAN to attract much needed foreign direct investments (FDI), as well as private investment to fund infrastructure development in the region. "The statement said ASEAN leaders were pleased with the achievements of the regional economic integration efforts as demonstrated by the near completion of implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2015 and to announce its establishment. "We also note that outstanding measures will be implemented as a priority under the AEC post-2015 agenda for completion in 2016. "In this context, we welcome the launch of the ASEAN Integration Report 2015 and AEC 2015: Progress and Key Achievements, which provides a comprehensive analysis of the progress and impact of the implementation of the AEC Blueprint," it added. The statement also highlighted that the establishment of the AEC had contributed significantly to the reduction in poverty rate, improvements in the overall well-being of the people of ASEAN, narrowing of the development gap, strengthening economic development and an expansion of extra and intra-ASEAN trade and investment. It noted too that ASEAN's global trade reached a new record level of US$2.53 trillion in 2014 as compared with US$1.61 trillion in 2007. FDI inflows into the region have been steadily growing over the years to reach US$136.2 billion in 2014. The ten ASEAN leaders and eight dialogue partners attended the 27th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits. -- BERNAMA