Participants at the 12 AEM-Russia Consultation in Semarang, Indonesia on August 21 (Photo: VNA) Jakarta (VNA) – ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM)and economic officials of Russia met in Semarang, Indonesia, on August 21 duringthe 12th AEM-Russia Consultation which was co-chaired by Indonesian Ministerof Trade Zulkifli Hasan and Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development VladimirIlyichev.
They agreedthat the ASEAN-Russia Trade and Investment Work Programme has been implementedthrough various joint projects and activities in 2023, and encouraged ASEANand Russia to intensify cooperation in strategic areas in the Work Programme,such as agriculture, energy transition, digital transformation, Science,Technology and Innovation (STI), and mitigation of the climate change impact, asthey are critical to the next phase of economic integration between ASEAN andRussia in the recovery era.
The officials welcomedthe outcomes of the ASEAN-Russia E-Commerce Roundtable, held on 10 August 2023 via videoconference, and encouraged ASEAN and Russia to promote further cooperation in the areaof e-commerce between ASEAN and Russia.
They welcomed the convening of the ASEAN-EAEU BusinessDialogue, held on June 15, 2023, on the sidelines of the Saint PetersburgInternational Economic Forum (SPIEF), and noted Russia’s invitation to ASEAN member states and Timor-Leste to participate in the ASEAN-Russia Business Dialogue on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), which is to be held on September10-13.
The participants acknowledged the role of the Russia-ASEAN BusinessCouncil (RABC) in strengthening cooperation between businesses in ASEAN andRussia through organising various activities and programmes as well as sharingbest practices, and encouraged RABC to hold more relevant events that enableprivate sectors to strengthen business linkages and investment in order torestore supply chains and overcome food and energy crises.
According to ASEAN preliminary statistics in 2022, trade between ASEAN and Russia amounted to 15.5 billion USD. The bilateral foreigndirect investment (FDI) reached 159.9 million USD, an increase of 401.2% yearon year.
Also on August 21, the AEM-US Consultation was held underthe chair of Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan and US Trade RepresentativeKatherine Tai.
Participants recognised substantial contributions from the USto the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF) through the US-ASEANConnect programme, particularly in enhancing health systems, developing humancapital, maximising economic integration, and advancing the digital economy andsustainable recovery.
They welcomed the efforts by both sides to implement concrete cooperationactivities to further solidify the ASEAN-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, affirmed the commitments for stronger cooperation, and endorsed the ASEAN-US Trade and InvestmentFramework Arrangement (TIFA) and Expanded Economic Engagement (E3) Work Plan.
The officials acknowledged the positive collaboration between the USand ASEAN on priority standards and conformity assessment topics such ascybersecurity, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, automotive products, building andconstruction materials, and new proposed area on sustainability.
Participants reaffirmed support for ASEAN centrality andunity in the evolving regional architecture and reiterated its support for anASEAN-centred regional architecture that is open, transparent, inclusive, andrules-based, built upon ASEAN-led mechanisms that support the ASEAN Outlook onthe Indo-Pacific (AOIP). They said they look forward to further advancingcooperation between ASEAN and the U.S., including in the areas identified in theAOIP to promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.
They welcomed the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC)’srecommendations to reinforce intra-ASEAN trade and appreciated itsactive engagements with various ASEAN sectoral bodies to strengthen the US-ASEANtrade partnership.
According to ASEAN statistics, two-way trade had reached 420.4billion USD in 2022, an increase of 15% year-on-year. The US invested 36.5billion USD in ASEAN, a rise of 3.1% year on year. The US is ASEAN’s secondlargest trading partner, and ASEAN’s largest source of foreign direct investment.
Earlier on August 20, the third ASEAN Economic Ministers(AEM) - UK Meeting was held under the co-chair of Indonesian Minister of Trade ZulkifliHasan and British Minister of State for the Department for Business and Trade NigelHuddleston.
Participants noted that in 2022, trade between ASEAN and theUK rose 20%, demonstrating that bilateral trade is recovering post COVID-19.According to statistics, total UK trade with ASEAN increased by 21.4% from 38.3billion GBP (48.77 billion USD) in 2021 to 46.5 billion GBP in 2022. The UK wasthe seventh largest investor of ASEAN.
They recognised the UK’s support of Indonesia’s Priority Economic Deliverables,specifically the ASEAN Framework for Industrial Project Based Initiatives andthe Roadmap for Harmonising Standards to Support the Sustainable DevelopmentGoals.
They noted that the UK and ASEAN are co-designing the new ASEANUK EconomicIntegration Programme, where the UK Government plans to spend up to 25 millionGBP to support ASEAN economic integration over the next five years, andrecognised the UK’s planned engagement with ASEAN to boost micro, small, mediumenterprises (MSME) development and support women’s economic empowerment.
The ministers welcomed the progress in delivering the WorkPlan to Implement the Joint Ministerial Declaration for Future EconomicCooperation as well as the continued significant contribution of the UK insupport of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), specifically in the areas of financialservices, digital economy, science and technology, investment, competition,intellectual property, skills development, resilient supply chains, andstandards.
They discussed the implementation of the ASEAN SustainableLeadership in Infrastructure Programme, the UK's British InvestmentPartnerships toolkit which provides a range of support to ASEAN member states,and welcomed the series of activities implemented under the ASEAN-UK DigitalInnovation Partnership (DIP), as well as the launch of the “Green Finance:Opportunities for Deeper UK-ASEAN Cooperation’ Report, in the margins of UK SoutheastAsia Tech Week held in March 2023 in Jakarta, as well as the UK’s support forthe “ASEAN Intellectual Property Ecommerce Gap Analysis”.
The meeting looked forward to the outcome of the discussion on the proposedASEAN-UK Collaboration on Financial Services.
They welcomed the development of the ASEAN-UK GreenTransition Programme, which will help support climate policies across theregion, strengthen the enabling environment for more green finance flows, andreduce the use of polluting sources of energy./.
