World Economic Forum on ASEAN 2018 comes to a close
Hanoi (VNA) – The World Economic
Forum on ASEAN (WEF) 2018, themed “ASEAN 4.0: Entrepreneurship and the Fourth
Industrial Revolution”, wrapped up on September 13 after three working days
with nearly 60 discussions.
Addressing the closing ceremony, Vietnamese
Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh said the WEF ASEAN 2018 gave in-depth and
multidimensional assessment of issues important to ASEAN countries’ development
in the context of Industry 4.0. Many new and good ideas, experiences and
policies to inspire businesses and people’s entrepreneurship and innovation
were shared.
He affirmed that only innovations with
multidimensional visions can push countries and businesses ahead in the world
today. Therefore, the governments and enterprises of ASEAN need to continue
promoting their internal strength, creating a favourable environment for
innovations and new things, and creating new growth momentum for prosperous
development in a fast changing world driven by new technologies.
The Vietnamese Government is creating a
growth-enabling environment and strongly encouraging businesses and people,
particularly the young, to bring into play their innovative capacity and startup
spirit, and contribute to the country’s dynamic development.
Building open and smart education for all is a
foundation and an important way to boost innovation so as to ensure that all
people can gain from opportunities and benefits of technological advances, Binh
noted.
The Deputy PM welcomed many recommendations made
at the WEF ASEAN on how to equip people, especially the young, with skills,
including digital skills, to master new technologies and meet new jobs’
requirements. This is also a chance for companies to increase investment in
smart education in ASEAN countries.
He said the world’s swift changes have generated
big opportunities for ASEAN to realise the ASEAN Community Vision 2025. Aside
from enhancing solidarity and consensus and promoting internal strength and
resilience, the bloc is opening the door for cooperation with partners in the
region and around the world.
Expressing his high expectation of future
cooperation, he asked the WEF to work closely with ASEAN members in translating
practical ideas and initiatives suggested at this forum into concrete
cooperation plans and programmes, and to bolster extensive cooperation
relations for a Southeast Asia of peace, stability and prosperous development.
At the closing ceremony, Kevin Sneader, Global Managing
Partner of McKinsey & Company, voiced his belief that ASEAN countries will
join hands to overcome difficulties and increasingly attain prosperous
development despite numerous challenges. To reach this, an important solution
is that they need to boost investment in the workforce and increase labour
productivity.
Optimal conditions for expanding trade markets
will appear more and more, so to minimize trade barriers, ASEAN countries need
to keep pursuing and maintaining trade agreements with countries and regions
around the world, he added.
According
to Kevin Sneader, ASEAN is strongly attracting investments from developed
countries, but competition from emerging markets with visible impacts requires
the grouping’s early adaptation to better deal with challenges.
ASEAN countries should increase cooperation and experience sharing on measures
to address issues such as budget deficit, domestic market support and
speculation in order to have bright prospects in the future, he said.
Assessing Vietnam as a country with strong development potential, he said his company
had worked with some Vietnamese partners in Hanoi and HCM City to deliver commitments
to continued working, consultancy and support to further develop models serving
domestic consumers and ensure growth level.
Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, Chief Executive Officer of Plan International, said
that activities during the WEF ASEAN 2018 offered chances to discuss openly a
wide range of issues of concern of the ASEAN governments as well as private and
socio-political organisations, especially the inclusion of adaptation amid digital
economy and creating conditions for all people to engage in the fourth
Industrial Revolution for “no one is left behind”.
One cause for great optimism, she elaborated, is ASEAN’s “phenomenal investment
in education”, and one that should translate into greater gender equity in the
region’s future workforce.
“As education has become more and more inclusive, as girls are superseding boys
in attaining high levels of education, the economies are still not taking full
advantage of that really fantastic resource: well-educated young women in their
workforce,” she noted.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese Acting Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen
Manh Hung stressed the need for “smart governance” and the willingness of
governments, businesses and societies to collectively adapt to rapid
technological change.
“Technology can change very fast but the people and governments cannot change
so fast and this will be our biggest challenge. So what do we need to do?” he
asked. “We have to train people so they are adept at change, not only
technological training, but soft skills too. I think the Fourth Industrial Revolution
is more about a mindset revolution.”
Saying that competition is an essential driving force to enhance development in
the era of Industry 4.0, Nazir Razak, Chairman of CIMB Group of Malaysia,
stressed that increasing the effective participation of businesses will
encourage optimistic changes to create a premise for ASEAN to become a region
of booming development during the international integration in the coming
time.-VNA