EU-ASEAN Business Council elects new executive board

The EU-ASEAN Business Council, the primary voice for European business within the ASEAN region, has elected its Executive Board for the next two years at its annual general meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, on 1 June.

The new board members are:

• François Guibert, Executive Vice-President, President, Greater China and South Asia Region, STMicroelectronics (Chairman)
• Donald Kanak, Chairman, Prudential Corporation Asia (MNC Representative & Vice Chairman)
• Theodoor Bakker, Partner, ABNR Law, Indonesia; Executive Board Member, European Chamber of Commerce, Indonesia (Chamber Representative & Vice Chairman)
• Martin Hayes, President, Robert Bosch SEA (MNC Representative & Treasurer), and
• Jan B. Djerf, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Handelsbanken; Head of South Asia Pacific, President, European Chamber of Commerce (Singapore) (Chamber Representative & Secretary)

Activities for the rest of 2015 and beyond were discussed, including the publication of two position papers on market access and the automotive industry, a business delegation to Brussels in the autumn to engage directly with the European Commission and European Parliament on ASEAN-EU trade relations, and the culmination of a new survey on European business sentiment in ASEAN.

The EU-ABC’s flagship conference, the ASEAN-EU Business Summit, will be taking place in Kuala Lumpur on 23 August. Confirmed speakers include Malaysian Minister of Trade and Industry HE Dato’ Sri Mustapa Bin Mohamed and ASEAN Business Advisory Council Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Mohd Munir Bin Abdul Majid.

EU-ASEAN Business Council welcomes Joint Communication on EU-ASEAN partnership

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission have adopted the Joint Communication The EU and ASEAN: a partnership with a strategic purpose. The Joint Communication aims to boost EU-ASEAN relations, providing a clear framework for sectoral cooperation.

Key proposals and commitments in the Joint Communication include:

· Taking trade relations with ASEAN to a different level and working towards an ambitious region-to-region free trade agreement (FTA) building on bilateral agreements between the EU and ASEAN member states;

· Stepping up cooperation on connectivity by exchanging lessons learned and by mobilising the financial means and expertise to support ASEAN efforts, including on the single market and through negotiating a civil aviation agreement;

· Strengthening collaboration on climate change and initiating a new, dedicated EU-ASEAN policy dialogue on environment and sustainable development;

· More than doubling EU financial support for ASEAN integration (to 170 million Euros) which comes on top of the 2 billion Euros for ASEAN member states;

· Implementing an extensive package of new initiatives in the area of non-traditional security (maritime security, disaster management and crisis response, transnational crime, training courses on preventive diplomacy, crisis management, mediation, the rule of law and election observation).

The Communication dovetails closely with EU-ASEAN Business Council’s policy priorities. EU-ASEAN Business Council Executive Director Chris Humphrey said: "This is testament to the importance of the ASEAN region as a key driver of the global economy. ASEAN and Europe are natural partners and are undertaking their own processes of economic integration. Europe is the largest investor into ASEAN, and is the region's second largest trading partner. This new commitment will build on the already strong trade and investment relationship. The EU-ABC looks forward to working closely with the European Commission to make the commitments in the Joint Communication a reality".

EU-Asean Business Council launches Agenda to boost trade between ASEAN and EU

The EU-ASEAN Business Council (ABC), the primary voice for European businesses in the ASEAN region, has launched a set of recommendations to boost the trade and investment relationship between ASEAN and the EU. The launch of the recommendations coincides with 26th ASEAN Summit taking place in Malaysia.

The Agenda for the promotion of trade and investment between ASEAN and Europe – which was presented to ASEAN Economic Ministers and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrӧm on April 26 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – has been developed through a process of consultation between EU-ABC members and the wider European business community active in Southeast Asia. The EU is ASEAN’s largest source of foreign direct investment, and also ASEAN’s second-largest trading partner, after China.

Source: EU-ABC, Agenda for the promotion of trade and investment between ASEAN and Europe. ASEAN trade with external trading partners (% Total Trade), for the top 10 ASEAN trade partner countries/regions according to ASEAN, as of December 2014, .

The Agenda contains twelve recommendations covering:

1. Measures to promote trade, including the removal of remaining tariffs, elimination of non-tariff barriers, the implementation of the ASEAN Single Window and WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, and the easing of customs procedures.

2. Measures to promote investment, including the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights, the harmonisation of standards across ASEAN, the liberalisation of foreign ownership rules and the easing of long term investment constraints;

3. Measures to boost competitiveness, including financial support for SMEs, facilitating the movement of skilled labour, developing the skills pool and increasing access to government procurement opportunities;

4. Measures to further promote strong trade and investment relations between the EU and ASEAN, including the creation of a formalised ongoing consultative and dialogue process.

“The EU-ABC has developed a set of specific recommendations that are designed to enhance the existing strong trade and investment relationship between ASEAN and the EU. These recommendations complement ASEAN’s existing workstream and form the basis of ongoing engagement and dialogue between ASEAN and the European business community," EU-ABC Executive Director Chris Humphrey said.

"It is through opportunities like this that we can explore further ways to boost trade and investment between our two regions. As ASEAN’s largest source of foreign investment and second largest external trading partner, European businesses have much to offer and will continue to engage constructively with their ASEAN counterparts as the region continues to integrate.”