KUALA LUMPUR: Senior International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said support from the business community was crucial in bolstering government initiatives in dealing with Covid-19.
He called for Asean to take the lead in pressing for greater global initiatives and enhanced collaborative efforts to fight the pandemic, together with a concerted Regional Economic Recovery Plan.
He said this when participating in the Asean Leaders Interface Session with representatives of the Asean Business Advisory Council (Asean-BAC) to discuss private sector recommendations and feedback on the implementation of Asean economic cooperation.
As time is of the essence, Azmin reiterated Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's call for the expeditious formulation of the recovery plan as this was crucial to achieve Asean's objective of greater economic integration.
"Malaysia believes that acting in a cohesive and responsive manner is not an option, but indeed an utmost necessity for Asean economic revitalisation.
"Malaysia together with Asean colleagues and FTA (free trade agreements) partners, will continue working towards the conclusion and signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) this year which Malaysia believes would contribute to the deepening of regional economic integration and prosperity," he said.
Azmin also underscored the imperative of enhancing Asean competitiveness in global trade and commerce through consistent capacity-building including the full adoption of digitalisation in all crucial areas of economic activity towards the realisation of a knowledge economy.
In 2019, Asean trade reached USD 2.8 trillion, of which USD 619.6 billion was intraregional. China (18 per cent share of total Asean trade), the US (10.4 per cent), the EU (8.7 per cent) and Japan (8 per cent) remain as Asean's largest trade partners.
The main investors to Asean are the United States with 15.2 per cent followed by Japan (12.7 per cent), Hong Kong (7.0 per cent) and China (5.7 per cent).
Despite the challenges and uncertainty faced in 2019, and notwithstanding the decline in global FDI by 1.4 per cent, FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows to Asean recorded an increase of 4.9 per cent in 2019, to USD 160.6 billion.
Yesterday, the prime minister emphasised that in moving beyond efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic in the region, leaders must inculcate a similar sense of urgency to also push for economic recovery.
The public health crisis has had a profound impact on economies and rebooting the regional economy must be utmost priority to mitigate disruptions to trade and strengthen the resilience of the regional supply chains.
Muhyiddin had called on Asean governments to establish "travel bubbles" between member states categorised as low risk or "green" with regard to Covid-19 infections, which he said would be crucial towards shoring up investments and creating jobs in member nations of the regional bloc.
Malaysia also raised the idea of opening up borders for intra-Asean tourism to flourish and provide financial boosts into the region's economies. Further, promoting intra-Asean travel and tourism will in turn generate the commercial and business spin-offs that are key to restarting the economy.