1. The “AEC Open Day” is aimed at creating greater awareness among the Malaysian business community of the huge potentials offered with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community.  Apart from the business opportunities, the “AEC Open Day” is also intended to highlight to the business community the work that will be undertaken by ASEAN to further deepen economic integration over the next 10 years with the implementation of the AEC Blueprint 2025. 

2. Last year, Malaysia was the Chair of ASEAN where on the leaders of the 10 countries formally announced on 22 November 2015 the formation of the ASEAN Community, which include the ASEAN Economic Community on 31 December 2015.  The removal of  barriers to trade and investments in form of tariffs, liberalization of equity ownership, simplification of rules and regulations have led to the creation of an enlarged market of 622 million people.

3. The preferential treatment accorded to each other by the 10 countries in the AEC is unlocking the huge potentials for the business community. It has increased the interdependence among the 10 countries. Intra-ASEAN trade now accounts for 25% of ASEAN’s global trade.  ASEAN’s total trade reached US$2.5 trillion in 2014. Intra-ASEAN trade accounted for US$608 billion or 24% of total trade. Trade is expected to be around US$2.5 trillion in 2015. Foreign direct investment inflows to the region has remained steady and reached a peak in 2014 amounting to US$136 billion. Intra – ASEAN investments continue to increase and reached US$24.4 billion in 2014, an increase of 26% from 2013.

4. In 2015, Malaysia’s global trade amounted to RM1.47trillion and out of this, 27.4% of Malaysia’s external trade is with ASEAN amounting to RM401.53 billion, with intra-ASEAN exports at RM219.41 billion, a slight increase at 2.7% from RM213.58 billion in 2014. Malaysia received increased investment from ASEAN countries amounting to US$2.7 billion in 2014. Likewise, FDI inflows from Malaysia to the ASEAN countries totalled to US$3.9 billion.

5. Malaysian Trade Commissioners from Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Yangon have been invited to provide first hand information of the opportunities in their respective markets under their coverage. Trade experts and successful entrepreneurs will share their experiences in doing business in the region. 

6. The SMEs constitute more than 95 per cent of registered business establishments in the region. While some Malaysian SMEs are already adopting a regional strategy to maximise the opportunities offered by the AEC, MITI realises that many other SMEs that are export ready are still unaware of the developments in ASEAN and how they can take advantage to export to the region. In order to reap the benefits from the AEC, businesses in Malaysia, particularly the SMEs, need to fully understand what the AEC is all about. This is crucial if they are to adapt and compete in the region. The SMEs that transform themselves will be able to achieve better economies of scale and higher productivity gains and could even grow their revenues exponentially. 

7. Apart from the AEC, the business community will also be informed of ASEAN’s engagements with its strategic partners – China, Japan, Korea, and India, Australia and New Zealand as well as the on-going negotiations by ASEAN to establish the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement and the ASEAN-Hong Kong SAR FTA.

8. This event is part of numerous outreach activities undertaken by MITI and its agencies to ensure that Malaysian companies, especially SMEs, are kept abreast of developments in ASEAN.

The full programme of activities for the AEC Open Day 2016 is in Attachment A.

KUALA LUMPUR
11 April 2016

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