ID :
338801
Sat, 08/23/2014 - 15:22
Auther :

Malaysia Should Have Clear Position In Charting AEC Progress

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- Malaysia should have a clear position in charting the progress of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) when it takes over Asean chairmanship next year, outgoing CIMB Group Chief Executive Officer Nazir Razak said. He said many outstanding issues, including a single production base, free movement of capital and labour, had to be addressed beforehand. "We are far from implementing that. So, (there's) a lot of work that Malaysia needs to champion in 2015," he told reporters on the sidelines of the eighth Malaysian Student Leaders Summit 2014 here Saturday. With the setting up of the AEC in 2015, Asean is set to become a dynamic single market and production base. The market has over 600 million consumers and combined gross domestic product of nearly US$3 trillion. "Be very clear of what had to be done over the next 12 months so that when we launch the AEC, it is substantive and beyond reduction of tariffs and so forth," Nazir, who is also co-chair of Asean Business Club, said. To a question from the floor, Nazir said being part of the AEC could help Malaysia to be in a better position when dealing with big countries. "I'm a big proponent of Asean economic integration. It is critical for us to integrate our marketplace of 600 million people," he said. -- BERNAMA

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