In the framework of the 25th ASEAN Summit and related high-level meetings, on November 13 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, ASEAN leaders met with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC). The meeting aimed to dialogue and discuss measures to enhance ASEAN-BAC’s contributions to help ASEAN make policies, promote ASEAN Community construction, and enhance connectivity in the region. ASEAN BAC Vietnam delegation included Dr Doan Duy Khuong - Chairman of ASEAN BAC Vietnam and Vice President of VCCI, and Ms Nguyen Thi Nga - Member of ASEAN BAC Vietnam and Chairwoman of the Southeast Asia Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SEABank).
At the meeting, ASEAN leaders and ASEAN BAC agreed to further strengthen cooperation by effectively carrying out existing action plans, fostering economic linkages and trade and investment relations, connecting and narrowing development gap, and dealing with emerging challenges. All sides agreed to speed up integration and trade and investment liberalisation, ensure equality for every ASEAN citizen in economic development, especially small businesses, micro businesses, female businesspeople and young entrepreneurs.
In 2014, Vietnam has participated in ASEAN BAC International meetings and collaborated with ASEAN Business Awards (ABA) to honour achievements of ASEAN businesses, including SMEs, young entrepreneurs and businesswomen; contributed constructive ideas to agenda contents, and invited Vietnamese enterprises to join the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2014 (ASEAN BIS) sided by the 25th ASEAN Summit held in Nay Pyi Taw City, Myanmar. As the Chair of ASEAN BAC Vietnam, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) always takes the lead and direct its members to partake activities of ASEAN BAC.
ASEAN is looking to form the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. ASEAN will become a common market and a unified production space. Goods, services, capital, technology and expertise will freely move within ASEAN without incurring any barriers or discriminations. That market will promote general advantages of the ASEAN region to gradually build a dynamic, highly competitive region in the world and bring prosperity to ASEAN peoples and countries.
Nevertheless, in spite of opportunities brought by the AEC, Vietnamese businesses will face competition from others in the region. ASEAN BAC sees that it needs to have closer cooperation with ASEAN member countries to send ASEAN BAC’s recommendations to ASEAN leaders to boost trade and investment liberalisation.
According to Dr Doan Duy Khuong, ASEAN BAC will improve finance accessibility to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of ASEAN through reforming administrative procedures, establishing infrastructure financial institutions, and setting up ASEAN SME banks to better provide financial support for SMEs in the region. Together with that is the simplification of customs regulations/certificates of origin while liberating trade and implementing the ASEAN Single Window Initiative for ASEAN partners which signed free trade agreements.
ASEAN BAC will study special mechanisms and policies for ASEAN SMEs to enable them to import and export products in the region more quickly and conveniently.
Dr Doan Duy Khuong said that in 2015, VCCI and ASEAN BAC Vietnam will continue to inform and popularise ASEAN to enhance understanding and awareness as well as encourage the participation of Vietnamese enterprises in regional economic integration. In addition, ASEAN BAC will make an attempt to study and suggest initiatives to strengthen the inner capacity of Vietnamese businesses, especially SMEs, to join in chain links with ASEAN businesses, thus helping build up the competitiveness of ASEAN to the world, reduce the income gap and the development gap, and promote social stability.
Ha Vu
Vietnamese
