MATRADE, UM and CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY Join Forces To Highlight Impacts of ASEAN Integrated to Businesses
Wednesday, May 18th, 2016, Kuala Lumpur: For the first time ever Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), University Malaya and Cambridge University are joining forces to organise a talk titled ‘ASEAN Integration and Impact to the Business Community’.
Attended Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry YB Datuk Haji Ahmad Haji Maslan, the events aims to provide a platform for an intellectual discourse, highlighting in depth the opportunities and challenges posed by the integration of ASEAN.
The event hosted over 200 selected participants comprising senior management of Malaysian companies and individuals from government agencies and departments. Apart from appraising what Malaysian businesses could reap from the ASEAN integration, participants are also exposed to the European experience on similar integration.
The ASEAN Integration Forum features a talk by a speaker from the Judge Business School of Cambridge University, Michael Kitson, who shares with the participants the European experience on economic trade agreements and how Malaysia can learn from the Europeans, as an ASEAN member.
Another key component of the event is a panellist session featuring a number of speakers from the Cambridge University, Young Entrepreneur Organisation Malaysia (GMB), ASEAN Business Advisory Council - Malaysia Chapter and from the Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya. During the session the speakers deliberate on a topic titled the ‘Future Economic Prospects for the World Economy, The European Union & The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)’.
According to MATRADE’s chief executive officer Dato’ Dzulkifli Mahmud, the event is the first government and tertiary education institutions partnership that focuses specifically on ASEAN integration. “The ASEAN integration through the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) earlier this year promises an abundance of trade opportunities in a market of 620 million people. But at the same time, many still do not fully grasp what lies beneath this integration, especially with regards to understanding the social, economy and political gap among the ASEAN member countries. This is why we organised today’s event,†said Dato’ Dzulkifli.
Challenges and issues such as NonTariff barriers (NTBs) or NonTariff Measures (NTMs) and the flows of skilled labour through the establishment of Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) of professional services are among the subjects discussed at the forum.
Meanwhile, the Dean of Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, Prof Dr Che Ruhana Isa shares that the initiative to organise the forum is timely as Malaysia has just hosted the 27th ASEAN Summit last year and The AEC Blueprint 2025 has been adopted.
“There are a lot of Malaysian business community, particularly in the financial services, legal services, oil and gas, manufacturing, who are succeeding in ASEAN and are trading with the other ASEAN countries. However, more sectors such as agro-food, healthcare, logistics and e-commerce retailing should be more actively involved in ASEAN,†Prof Che Ruhana said.
ASEAN, since its inception in 1967, has a combined GDP of US2.6 trillion and is the seventh largest economy in the world. Being an economic powerhouse, a lot of countries such as the US, the European countries, Japan and China are heavily investing in ASEAN.
With the realisation of the AEC, the business community should be committed towards this bloc, despite the shortfalls. Businesses which adopt a wait and see policy towards the AEC will be threatened as an integrated AEC would mean a more competitive and open market.
