It was such a pleasure to host Ms. Alpana Roy, Director, ASEAN (Trade Division), Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) again this morning. She and her colleagues updated members on the key achievements under Indonesia’s Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2023 and the priority workstreams of LAO PDR’s Chairmanship in 2024. ASEAN has always been a key focus for the Chamber because ASEAN is Singapore’s economic future and of direct relevance to so many businesses based here.

This event was an initiative of our member-exclusive ASEAN Interest Group co-chaired by Mr. Nick Caldwell, Head of Territory, APAC, Invest Northern Ireland & SICC Board Director and Mr. Justinian Habner, Regional Director, South East Asia, Invest Northern Ireland.

Following a presentation by Ms. Natalia Tan, Assistant Director, ASEAN Division, Ministry of Trade & Industry, Nick moderated the dialogue between the audience and Alpana.

Here’s what we took away from the session:

🌏 MTI is always keen to hear the pain points for businesses and their wish lists. Providing input helps MTI negotiators serve businesses better.

🌏 Under Indonesia’s Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2023, several free trade agreements and a mutual recognition arrangement  aimed at facilitating trade and promoting growth were achieved.

🌏 There is a clear and consensus push in ASEAN for the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) for both economic and strategic reasons (e.g. Matters such as a Unique Business Identification Number (UBIN), the ASEAN Digital Inclusion Index 2.0 and the Digital Integration Framework Action Plan Review).

🌏 LAO PDR’s Chairmanship for 2024 has identified several priority economic deliverables and workstreams. These include supply chain connectivity and economic integration to establish a sustainable and inclusive future through bilateral engagements on the ASEAN Power Grid and Multilateral Power Trade. Furthermore, a roadmap on digital trade standards in ASEAN is being developed.

🌏 The outlook for talent mobility in the ASEAN region is quite promising. ASEAN countries have shown a willingness to engage and rethink their strategies in the global talent race, which has contributed significantly to ASEAN’s competitiveness on the global stage. This has led to innovation, business creation, and economic growth. In addition, initiatives such as Tech:X are being scaled up to further strengthen business partnerships.

🌏 ASEAN’s Post-2025 Vision and Strategic Plans are designed to revitalize the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) processes and outline the next phase of regional economic integration. These plans include initiatives and action plans aimed at promoting the ASEAN circular economy, as well as the maturation of regional carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in the coming years. With Singapore set to assume the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2027, MTI welcomes any ideas and initiatives that businesses would like it to consider.

Many thanks, once again to Alpana, Natalia and their colleagues, Nick and Justinian for their time and effort and to our audience for an engaging dialogue.