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 during the 12th AEM-Russia Consultation which was co-chaired by Indonesian Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan and Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Vladimir Ilyichev.
They agreed that the ASEAN-Russia Trade and Investment Work Programme has been implemented through various joint projects and activities in 2023, and encouraged ASEAN and 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, as they are critical to the next phase of economic integration between ASEAN and Russia in the recovery era.
The officials welcomed the 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 area of e-commerce between ASEAN and Russia.
They welcomed the convening of the ASEAN-EAEU Business Dialogue, held on June 15, 2023, on the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg International 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 September 10-13.
The participants acknowledged the role of the Russia-ASEAN Business Council (RABC) in strengthening cooperation between businesses in ASEAN and Russia through organising various activities and programmes as well as sharing best practices, and encouraged RABC to hold more relevant events that enable private sectors to strengthen business linkages and investment in order to restore 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 foreign direct investment (FDI) reached 159.9 million USD, an increase of 401.2% year on year.
Also on August 21, the AEM-US Consultation was held under the chair of Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
Participants recognised substantial contributions from the US to the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF) through the US-ASEAN Connect programme, particularly in enhancing health systems, developing human capital, maximising economic integration, and advancing the digital economy and sustainable recovery.
They welcomed the efforts by both sides to implement concrete cooperation activities to further solidify the ASEAN-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, affirmed the commitments for stronger cooperation, and endorsed the ASEAN-US Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA) and Expanded Economic Engagement (E3) Work Plan.
The officials acknowledged the positive collaboration between the US and ASEAN on priority standards and conformity assessment topics such as cybersecurity, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, automotive products, building and construction materials, and new proposed area on sustainability.
Participants reaffirmed support for ASEAN centrality and unity in the evolving regional architecture and reiterated its support for an ASEAN-centred regional architecture that is open, transparent, inclusive, and rules-based, built upon ASEAN-led mechanisms that support the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP). They said they look forward to further advancing cooperation between ASEAN and the U.S., including in the areas identified in the AOIP to promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.
They welcomed the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC)’s recommendations to reinforce intra-ASEAN trade and appreciated its active engagements with various ASEAN sectoral bodies to strengthen the US-ASEAN trade partnership.
According to ASEAN statistics, two-way trade had reached 420.4 billion USD in 2022, an increase of 15% year-on-year. The US invested 36.5 billion USD in ASEAN, a rise of 3.1% year on year. The US is ASEAN’s second largest 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 Zulkifli Hasan and British Minister of State for the Department for Business and Trade Nigel Huddleston.
Participants noted that in 2022, trade between ASEAN and the UK rose 20%, demonstrating that bilateral trade is recovering post COVID-19. According to statistics, total UK trade with ASEAN increased by 21.4% from 38.3 billion GBP (48.77 billion USD) in 2021 to 46.5 billion GBP in 2022. The UK was the 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 and the Roadmap for Harmonising Standards to Support the Sustainable Development Goals.
They noted that the UK and ASEAN are co-designing the new ASEANUK Economic Integration Programme, where the UK Government plans to spend up to 25 million GBP to support ASEAN economic integration over the next five years, and recognised the UK’s planned engagement with ASEAN to boost micro, small, medium enterprises (MSME) development and support women’s economic empowerment.
The ministers welcomed the progress in delivering the Work Plan to Implement the Joint Ministerial Declaration for Future Economic Cooperation as well as the continued significant contribution of the UK in support of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), specifically in the areas of financial services, digital economy, science and technology, investment, competition, intellectual property, skills development, resilient supply chains, and standards.
They discussed the implementation of the ASEAN Sustainable Leadership in Infrastructure Programme, the UK's British Investment Partnerships toolkit which provides a range of support to ASEAN member states, and welcomed the series of activities implemented under the ASEAN-UK Digital Innovation Partnership (DIP), as well as the launch of the “Green Finance: Opportunities for Deeper UK-ASEAN Cooperation’ Report, in the margins of UK Southeast Asia Tech Week held in March 2023 in Jakarta, as well as the UK’s support for the “ASEAN Intellectual Property Ecommerce Gap Analysis”.
The meeting looked forward to the outcome of the discussion on the proposed ASEAN-UK Collaboration on Financial Services.
They welcomed the development of the ASEAN-UK Green Transition Programme, which will help support climate policies across the region, strengthen the enabling environment for more green finance flows, and reduce the use of polluting sources of energy./.
