ASEAN and Europe have an already strong trade and investment relationship but more can be done for the Promotion of EURO-ASEAN Trade and Investment by both sides to further enhance this partnership, improve the commercial environment, and promote greater trade and investment between our two regions.
As ASEAN continues to develop and deepen its integration, and in particular as it approaches the formal lunch of AEC in December 2015, now is an opportune time for the European business community to publish its ideas and recommendations to complement the action that ASEAN and its member states are already taking as part of the regional integration process.
The summit will bring together representatives of all stakeholders in EU-ASEAN Business dialogue process – European Chamber of Commerce from across ASEAN, representatives from the European Commission, ASEAN and European business Leaders, representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat and ASEAN Economic Ministers.
The purpose of this paper is to bring together the initiatives and recommendations developed through a consultation process with European businesses and European Chambers of Commerce in South East Asia. These initiatives and recommendations will act as the basis for an ongoing dialogue on the development of policies and the revision of rules, regulations and procedures so as to improve the overall business environment, and encourage further investment by European businesses in ASEAN.
In this document we have set out a number of key recommendations which will be supplemented by sector-specific and cross-sector position papers during the course of 2015. A paper on the insurance industry has already been published on 21st March 2015.
The recommendations set out are designed deliberately to cut across different industry sectors or to impact trade and investment more generally. They strive towards the facilitation and acceleration of economic development and betterment in the short to medium term. In the long term, they aim to further ASEAN’s progress towards the AEC’s ultimate goals, and to create the optimal conditions for a potential ASEAN-EU Free Trade Agreement.