ASEAN Urged To Review And Perfect Legal Framework For Post-Pandemic Trade Facilitation And Recovery

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 (Bernama) -- An official of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) has suggested for ASEAN countries to continue to review and perfect the legal framework to promote trade facilitation in order to ensure uninterrupted circulation of goods and supply chains in the region. Nguyen Manh Tien, Vice Chairman of the NA’s Committee for Foreign Affairs and Head of the Vietnamese NA’s Delegation, had made the suggestion at a virtual meeting of the Economic Committee of the 41st General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 41), a report by Vietnam News Agency (VNA) said Wednesday. The meeting focused on the topic “The Role of Parliaments in Promoting ASEAN Cohesiveness and Economic Recovery post-COVID 19”. According to the VNA report, Tien said the pandemic is not just a medical crisis but a crisis for the growth when international trade and supply chains are disrupted, and the Vietnamese delegation was deeply concerned about the great losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in ASEAN countries. He added that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have caused a great hindrance to the economies of ASEAN countries as well as their internal and external trade activities. He also noted that the economic integration in promoting economic growth and recovery of ASEAN member countries and the good implementation of digital economic activities will be of profound importance, playing an important role in strengthening ASEAN economic integration as well as ASEAN’s readiness to respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also suggested building open, sustainable and responsible investment policies in the region, ensuring food security and agricultural value chain, increasing the use of renewable energy, and proceeding to build a circular economy. The report also said that Tien recommended the ASEAN community to unify to implement a series of solutions, including promoting accelerated exchange of information relating to tourism and health and other necessary measures to control the spread of the COVID-19, studying the concept of 'travel bubble’ between 'green countries’ as a preliminary initiative in the process of reopening the border, as well as to speed up the ratification of regional trade agreements and treaties, and prioritising on the efforts to finalise negotiations and signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) by 2020. -- BERNAMA