Asean, EU leaders seek greater economic cooperation

Business and government leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the European Union (EU) have expressed intention to boost trade relations further in the future, signaling a renewed thrust from both regional blocs to cooperate on key priority areas.

The EU-Asean Business Council (EU-ABC) held the 10th Asean-EU Business Summit in Brussels, Belgium on Dec 13, where key private sector and government leaders met to discuss future cooperation.

“We need investment for the long-term. Asean is one of the few bright spots globally for investment. At the Council (EU-ABC), we want to boost relations and deepen the alignment that the EU and Asean already have on a great number of topics. We want to ensure a better, more just, sustainable future,” said EU-ABC chair Martin Hayes.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto identified some of the challenges and opportunities in the Asean region in 2023, the same year his country will assume chairmanship of the regional bloc.

“The global economy is currently in a bad shape as it is plagued by multidimensional issues. In the face of challenges, the Southeast Asia region remains quite stable,” Hatarto said.

“Indonesia, as Asean chair next year, will address three priorities. One is to expand regional growth through connected and harmonized markets. Second is to accelerate the digital economy in Asean and third is to strengthen the resilience of Asean economies,” he added.

Hartarto added that besides enhancing connectivity, cooperation in the economic sector and achieving sustainable development goals is a priority for his country as Asean chair.

On the EU side, European Council president Charles Michel identified three key areas for cooperation for the two regional groupings.

The number one priority is connectivity, which Michel said was essential as it was the core of trade. The other two are digital cooperation and climate change.

“The private sector has a major role to play, political leaders need to define the goals and ensure judicial stability and this summit dialogue, which engages the private sector, will allow us to go even further,” said Michel.

Trade between the two regional blocs was valued at $229.9 billion in 2021, making Asean the EU’s third-largest trading partner after the United States and China.