Clear Objectives Vital For Regional Economic Progress -- IDEAS

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- Asian countries can continue to advance regional economic interests and strengthen their collective resilience by maintaining clarity on their objectives and not succumbing to external uncertainties.

Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) director Tan Sri Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria said governments can use the resources available within ASEAN and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to work on policies to boost the domestic demand and reduce their reliance on export-driven growth.

"It is time to nurture a stronger and more affluent middle class for sustainable economic growth," she said in her keynote address at the Kuala Lumpur Roundtable on Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation of the Boao Forum for Asia here, today.

Sta Maria, who is also a former executive director of the APEC secretariat, said ASEAN stands as a robust mechanism for fostering cooperation and advancing integration among its members, offering ideas for policy alignment and regional advancement, while APEC serves as an invaluable space to highlight new ideas and policy.

"We're really exploring possibilities for a greater area for trade freedom. It is crucial that we direct our efforts towards priority areas, including collaborating to deepen connectivity, and avoid being distracted by the prevailing ambiguities around the United States’ actions.

"Rather than allowing these shifts to dictate the trajectory of our regional strategies, we should focus on collaborative solutions and long-term integration," she said.

According to Sta Maria, ASEAN has successfully collaborated with ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, and more importantly, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) where the upgrade of the ASEAN-China free trade agreement plays a key role.

"The upgrade needs to be coordinated with the work that we are doing with the RCEP agreement. We need to look at all this holistically,” she said, noting that as a non-binding forum, APEC enables open discussion and experimentation, allowing the policymakers to refine strategy.

Sta Maria also emphasised that both ASEAN and APEC provide valuable platforms for pursuing structural and regulatory reform that member governments can leverage to facilitate businesses and promote cross-border collaboration.

To strengthen economic collaboration, it is crucial to enhance financial connectivity, specifically in the areas of cross-border payments, data flow, data protection and cybersecurity, she said.

"At the same time, it is important to support enterprises in transitioning from the informal to the formal economy, and we spent a lot of time last year focusing on how we can do this. So there is material that economies and industries can use to tap into the work done at APEC last year," she said.

According to her, this transition from the informal to the formal economy not only fortifies economic frameworks but also broadens the tech space and contributes to sustainable long-term development.

"Now is the right time to shift the narrative surrounding our region. By investing in our own markets and companies, we can build a more robust and self-reliant economic future. It is our chance to reaffirm our commitment to regional prosperity and collective economic advancement," she said.

-- BERNAMA