Malaysia is hosting the 16th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Retreat on 27-28 February 2010 in Putrajaya. The Retreat is held with the objective of allowing Ministers to exchange and deliberate on strategic issues in relation to ASEAN’s internal economic integration as well as external economic relationship with Dialogue Partners. This year’s Retreat is held at a very challenging time as economies embark on recovery measures from the global financial crisis. Ministers will be deliberating on a number of issues pertaining to:
- the full implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area
- liberalisation of services under the 8 th Package for 2010
- facilitation of investments into the region
- gaps in creating a single market
- future strategic direction of ASEAN over the next few years and beyond the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015