Complete Elimination Of Non-Tariff Barriers Will Make ASEAN More Attractive - Malaysian Minister Mustapa

By Massita Ahmad SINGAPORE, May 26 (Bernama) -- The complete elimination of non-tarrif barriers will make the future of ASEAN more attractive, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said. "Hence, ASEAN needs a solid plan to eliminate the non-tariff measures. I'm going to raise this at the meeting with my counterpart Lim Hng Kiang later," he told Bernama after attending a networking session with about 70 Malaysian professionals in Singapore at Agrobazaar Malaysia, Sultan Gate on Wednesday. Mustapa, who is on a two-day working visit here since Wednesday, said as ASEAN is expected to be the fourth largest single market in the world by 2030 after the European Union, the US, and China, it needs to be more attractive. As at end of last year, ASEAN member countries had eliminated 93.9 per cent of 506 non-tariff barriers highlighted in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) scorecard. Nonetheless, ASEAN is making a slow progress in allowing free movement of workers, part of the plan to create the AEC. On his visit here, Mustapa said he would also seek for more understanding on the selection of digital economy as a potential key priority for Singapore’s ASEAN 2018 Chairmanship. Singapore early this month identified e-commerce and other initiatives relating to the digital economy as the key priority of its new focus area under the AEC 2025. "We also want to better understand how Singapore disseminate understanding of the concept of ASEAN, which is now 50 years to every community in general," Mustapa said. Since its inception in 1967, ASEAN has achieved commendable growth and holds considerable economic potential, recording Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of between 4.5 per cent and 6.1 per cent from 2012 to 2016 and is expected to grow at a yearly average of 5.2 per cent until 2020. By 2030, the region is forecast to have a US$6 trillion (US$1=RM4.29) economy and a population of more than 700 million, attributed to the growing foreign direct investment, a young and rising middle class, and an abundance of natural resources. Besides the networking session, Mustapa will also meet with several multinational and homegrown companies, as well as trade associations and chambers of commerce to discuss investment opportunities in Malaysia. Singapore is Malaysia’s second largest trading partner, with RM52.8 billion total trade in the first quarter of 2017, constituting 12.3 per cent of Malaysia’s total global trade, and 44.5 per cent of total trade among ASEAN member countries. Singapore is also Malaysia’s largest investor from ASEAN. -- BERNAMA