Asean united: Liew, Asean Economic Community deputy secretary-general Satvinder Singh, Chan and Bernama chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai. Also present were the Philippines’ Undersecretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy Dr Ceferino S. Rodolfo, Nurlin Salleh from BCG Consulting and Ng at the Asean Economic Opinion Leaders Conference: Outlook for 2025. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star
“Business as usual won’t cut it. Asean needs to be bold to face the challenges while taking advantage of the opportunities presented,” he said in his opening remarks at the Asean Economic Opinion Leaders Conference: Outlook for 2025 at Menara Miti here yesterday. Liew added that there is a limit to export-oriented industrialisation, although in the last seven decades, Asia’s Dragons and Tigers – South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore – as well as Tiger Cub Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and China since its ascension to the World Trade Organisation in 2001, have grown rich by exporting to the United States, and Europe to a lesser extent.
“It is not in the interest of the rest of the world to see the supply chain bifurcates, and therefore, Asean, together with the European Union, the Global South and the rest, need to do the heavy lifting to ensure that the middle ground or the common ground is big enough to resist bifurcation,” he said.
“More Asean-wide joint investment projects or sub-regional cooperation will help to make the Asean supply chain stronger.”