“This could be the key highlight of Malaysia’s chairmanship,” he said in his closing remarks at the ASEAN Economic Opinion Leaders Conference in Kuala Lumpur recently.
RCEP has 15 countries, including ASEAN member countries Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The other five are Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Malaysia also intends to strongly drive negotiations on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement launched in 2023, Aziz was cited as saying by a news agency.
“By 2030, the digital economy could add $2 trillion (RM 9 trillion) to the region, but for that to happen, Malaysia must help ASEAN nations harmonise their digital policies,” he said.
The country will also propose a joint declaration on the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council economic cooperation during the 46th ASEAN summit in May, the minister added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)