Latest news with #ASEAN-JapanComprehensiveEconomicPartnership
BusinessToday
a day ago
- Business
- BusinessToday
ASEAN Signals Readiness To Upgrade Trade Pact With Japan
ASEAN has declared its readiness to modernise its free trade agreement with Japan, aiming to align the decades-old pact with today's fast-evolving economic landscape. Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary-General for the ASEAN Economic Community, said the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP), signed in 2008, needs a refresh to reflect new trade priorities. 'The agreement we have today was framed decades ago…Timing-wise, it may be like how we have upgraded agreements with China, Australia, New Zealand and India,' he told reporters at a joint press conference with Malaysia's Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz during Expo 2025 Osaka. Recent ASEAN trade upgrades have introduced pillars such as e-commerce, innovation, supply chain resilience and sustainability, areas Satvinder believes should also be part of a revised deal with Japan. He stressed that shifting geoeconomic realities and Japanese firms' interest in reconfiguring ASEAN operations make the upgrade 'more valuable than ever'. Tengku Zafrul said upcoming meetings, including the ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meeting in September and the ASEAN Leaders' Summit in October, will be key opportunities to deepen economic ties. 'Constant dialogue builds trust, and that trust will build a better ASEAN and Asia,' he said.
Fibre2Fashion
14-07-2025
- Business
- Fibre2Fashion
ASEAN wants to maintain stable, mutually-beneficial trade ties with US
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) recently expressed their willingness to engage in constructive dialogue with the United States to maintain stable, fair, sustainable and mutually-beneficial trade ties with the latter. A series of ministerial meetings between ASEAN and its partners like Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States was recently held in Kuala Lumpur. At a series of ministerial meetings between ASEAN and its partners held in Kuala Lumpur recently, ASEAN member nations expressed their willingness to engage in constructive dialogue with the US to maintain stable, fair, sustainable and mutually-beneficial trade ties with the latter. ASEAN and Japan stressed the need to promptly upgrade the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Keeping in view the current scenario in the region and the world, the participating nations underscored the need to enhance dialogue, cooperation and coordinated actions to deal with common challenges. ASEAN partner nations reaffirmed their support for the bloc's centrality and for it to implement its Vision 2045, with special focus on areas like digital transformation, innovation, green conversion, energy transition, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, according to a Vietnamese media outlet. ASEAN and Japan stressed the need to promptly upgrade the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) to include new growth dimensions like digital development, green development, and supply chain. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov pledged to boost cooperation with the bloc based on the United Nations Charter. Both sides agreed to bolster economic cooperation, especially in fields like digital economy, innovation, supply chain, sustainable tourism, clean energy and development of small and medium enterprises. They also agreed to formulate an ASEAN-Russia Action Plan for the 2026-2030. South Korean deputy foreign minister Park Yoon-joo reaffirmed his country's commitment to continuing and expanding ties with the bloc based on mutual trust, respect and benefits. Both sides discussed efforts to prepare for negotiations to upgrade the ASEAN-South Korea Free Trade Agreement. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
