Thailand
Malaysia calls for cohesive economic measures among Asean members
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has called for cohesive economic measures among Asean member states to build socioeconomic resilience in mitigating the impact of Covid-19, said the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti).
In a statement on the 36th Asean Summit, Miti said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin stressed that leaders, in moving beyond efforts to contain the pandemic in the region, must inculcate a similar sense of urgency to also push for economic recovery.
In his intervention, he said the public health crisis had had a profound impact on economies and rebooting the regional economy must be the grouping’s utmost priority to mitigate disruptions to trade and strengthen the resilience of the regional supply chains.
According to Miti, the prime minister made a strong case for governments to implement measures to establish “travel bubbles” – involving the easing of travel restrictions – between “green” Asean member states to shore up investments and create job opportunities.
Malaysia also broached the idea of opening up borders for intra-Asean tourism to flourish and provide financial boost into the region’s economies. “Further, promoting intra-Asean travel and tourism will in turn generate the commercial and business spin-offs that are key to restarting the economy, ” Miti said.
On that note, Malaysia shared the view of the Sultan of Brunei and President of Indonesia that Asean officials should begin work on establishing an Asean travel bubble and to explore the possibility of sectoral exemptions for travel restrictions such as medical tourism, or high-value economic visits. In 2019, Asean trade reached US$2.8 trillion, of which US$619.6bil was intra-regional.
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, who is Miti minister, also participated in the Asean Leaders Interface Session with representatives of the Asean Business Advisory Council (Asean-BAC) to discuss private sector recommendations and feedback on the implementation of Asean economic cooperation.— Bernama
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2020/06/29/malaysia-calls-for-cohesive-economic-measures-among-asean-members