Asean is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, under the ambitious theme of engaging with the world.
A key Singapore advisory panel on Thursday proposed a 10-year strategy aimed at ensuring annual economic growth of 2-3%, mainly centred on trade partnerships, deepening the workforce's tech skills and digitalising the economy.
WHILE most countries in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) have ambitions of developing competitive tech sectors, it appears that Vietnam is best placed to become the region’s Silicon Valley, thanks to successful education policies, government support and an environment of entrepreneurial-ism.
Vietnam is ready to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Year 2017, all preparations having been being basically completed on schedule, said Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh in an interview.
Việt Nam and Laos signed a series of vital agreements yesterday, pledging to boost co-operation between the two governments and countries.
The goal is to cut half the time needed for business registration and simplify customs procedures this year.
Vietnam’s economy has shown resilience in the face of global headwinds. In 2016 Vietnam GDP growth was an estimated 6.2 per cent — higher than the larger Asean economies of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Last week, India abruptly changed tack by expressing its willingness to drop three-tiered approach on tariff liberalization under the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement. This was communicated to trading partners at the fourth RCEP Ministerial Meeting held in Laos on August 5. India has been one of the key proponents of the three-tiered approach on tariff reduction under RCEP.
<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
