Asean must deepen integration as its export-led model loses steam: panellists

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(From left) Mr Teo Siong Seng, Pacific International Lines executive chairman and Singapore Business Federation chairman; Dr Yose Rizal Damuri, executive director of Indonesia’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies; and Mr Liew Chin Tong, Malaysia’s Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry; at a dialogue moderated by ST foreign editor Li Xueying during the Asia Future Summit on Oct 9.

ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Summary

• ASEAN must evolve beyond a manufacturing hub to become a significant consumer and believe in its own companies, according to Malaysias Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong.
• ASEAN needs deeper integration and should look at the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone as an example of closer regional cooperation, said Mr Teo Siong Seng.
• Dr Yose Rizal Damuri stated ASEAN must address social inequality by creating quality jobs and revisit forming a single market to reduce non-tariff barriers.

AI generated

SINGAPORE – Asean must start taking itself more seriously and move beyond being a production hub for others if it is to thrive in a world marked by rising protectionism and shifting global power, said observers at the Asia Future Summit on Oct 9.

At a panel discussion on the region’s economic future, they cautioned that South-east Asia’s longstanding export-led model, which powered its growth for decades,