KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The United States (US)-China conflict has the potential to boost the integration of member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), says Malaysia’s Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, Dr Ong Kian Ming.
He said Asean’s integration could materialise in three ways; for instance, when Chinese companies come to invest in Southeast Asia, they would also export to other Asean countries, thus increasing intra-Asean trade flows.
“Secondly, the US and Chinese companies may want to partner or link parts of their supply chain (with companies) in the region.
“Thirdly, local vendors under the Belt and Road initiative can also export within Asean to other Chinese companies,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN Prosperity Forum, hosted by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), today.
Hence, the conflict between the two economic superpowers could boost trade and investment relations among Asean countries, said Ong.
IDEAS had also released its ASEAN Integration Report 2019 which assesses the outcomes of Asean integration using a set of economic indicators as an external assessment on the implementation of the Asean Economic Blueprint 2025.
–NNN-BERNAMA