ASEAN Must Step Up Services Liberalisation, Trade Facilitation To Deepen Regional Integration - AMRO
By Siti Radziah Hamzah
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), the professional regional policy advisory firm, has highlighted advancing services liberalisation, strengthening trade facilitation and internationalising regional firms as vital ingredients for ASEAN to achieve deeper economic integration.
AMRO chief economist Dong He said ASEAN’s priorities comprising digitalisation, sustainable and inclusive growth, and convergence under the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Strategic Action Plan 2026–2030 are a step in the right direction.
To achieve this, the grouping should move beyond tariff reduction, he told Bernama in an interview today.
AMRO contributes to securing the macroeconomic and financial resilience and stability of the ASEAN+3 region through surveillance, supporting regional financing arrangements, providing technical assistance, serving as a regional knowledge hub and facilitating financial cooperation.
ASEAN+3’s 14 member economies comprise the 10 ASEAN member states as well as China, Japan, and South Korea.
“ASEAN must also leverage external linkages to strengthen domestic capabilities and support the growth and internationalisation of regional firms,” he said ahead of the upcoming 47th ASEAN Summit hosted by Malaysia.
He said the AEC should make the region an integrated economic space and more than a collection of open economies.
AMRO is projecting ASEAN+3 growth to moderate to 4.1 per cent in 2025 and 3.8 per cent in 2026 from 4.3 per cent this year, reflecting weaker external demand and a more uncertain policy environment.
For ASEAN, growth is forecast to ease to 4.6 per cent in 2025 and 4.3 per cent in 2026, though still above the global average.
He also cautioned that regional growth faces multiple risks, including prolonged trade tensions, divergent policy stances among major economies, and higher financial market volatility.
In ASEAN’s economic endeavours, he said, China’s economic transition remains a key factor, with rapid expansion in green technology, electric vehicles and advanced manufacturing offset by weakness in real estate and construction.
-- BERNAMA