ASEAN leaders discuss economic integration
(VOV) - Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu led a Vietnamese delegation joining 50 delegates from other ASEAN member countries at the 23rd meeting of the High Level Task Force on ASEAN Economic Integration (HLTF-EI) in Kuala Lumpur on January 4.
The conference’s participants focused on ASEAN economic integration and reviewed the HLTF-EI’s operational regulations. They discussed issues relating to the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and matters concerning management reform and trade facilitation.
They also discussed further consolidating the ASEAN Secretariat’s role.
The idea of building an AEC, one of the ASEAN Community’s three key pillars, was initiated at the 9th ASEAN Summit in October 2003.
Its launch is scheduled for 2015, establishing a stable, prosperous, and highly competitive region with equitable economic development. By 2020, it also aims to reduce poverty and socio-economic disparities and enable the free flow of goods, services, investment, and capital.