Malaysia marks 54th ASEAN founding anniversary
Malaysia, one of the six founding nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), virtually celebrated the 54th anniversary of the bloc on August 6.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia Hishammuddin Tun Hussein chairs the celebration (Photo: EPA/VNA)According to a press release from the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the annual ASEAN Day is also a day of remembrance of how much ASEAN has progressed to become one of the world’s economic powerhouses since its birth on August 8, 1967 and now as the 7th largest economy in the world.
This year, under Brunei’s Chairmanship with the theme ‘We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper’, ASEAN is steadily progressing towards economic recovery through various initiatives under the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF), including the ASEAN Travel Corridor Arrangement Framework (ATCAF).
At the heart of ASEAN’s achievements during this unprecedented time of global uncertainties is the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement in November last year.
In his remarks at the commemoration, Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali emphasised that the signing of RCEP is not only Malaysia’s testament of its resolve and commitment to strengthen the multilateral trading system, but also an economic recovery tool against COVID-19 which will help to ensure continuous opening of markets as well as the uninterrupted flow of goods and enhancement of regional supply chains.
The ATCAF and ratification of RCEP have been identified as among the key tools for expediting regional economic recovery under the ACRF./.
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