VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): The economic ministers of all ASEAN member countries expressed support for the five priority issues raised at the 2023 ASEAN Business Advisory Council (BAC), Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Arsjad Rasjid said.

"Thank God, we received full support from all economic ministers of ASEAN (member countries)," he remarked here on Wednesday.

As the chair of 2023 ASEAN-BAC, Kadin is aiming to expedite regional transformation by developing innovations as well as strengthening the centrality and inclusiveness of ASEAN, he said.

Developing a solid economic community through a people-to-people and business-to-business approach is needed to support trade activities, he added.

Hence, the 2023 ASEAN-BAC has been themed “ASEAN Centrality: Innovating towards Greater Inclusiveness.”

"Inclusiveness means that we cannot leave anybody behind, thus the key (to realizing inclusiveness) is being innovative. ASEAN has a large economy (potential) with 700 million population and its economic growth currently reaches an average of 5.5 percent," the Kadin chairperson said.

Furthermore, ASEAN must strengthen regional supply chains to support the global supply network, he added.

Kadin has identified five priority issues for ASEAN-BAC meetings: digital transformation, health resilience, sustainable development, food security, as well as the easing of trade and investment.

Regarding digital transformation, the ASEAN-BAC will introduce several comprehensive legacy programs, namely the ASEAN Quick Response (QR) Code, digital lending platforms, and Wiki Wirausaha (Entrepreneurship Wiki).

Furthermore, the ASEAN Net Zero Hub and Carbon Center for Excellence programs will be carried out to realize sustainable development.

Rasjid said that earlier, Kadin had disseminated information on the ASEAN-BAC programs in Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

All suggestions received during the ASEAN-BAC meetings will be conveyed later to the leaders of ASEAN countries at the ASEAN Business Investment Summit, which is scheduled to be held in Jakarta in September 2023.

Indonesia is holding the 2023 ASEAN chairmanship from January 1 to December 31, 2023.

It is hosting the Prep-Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) for the 29th AEM Retreat; the AEM-ASEAN Business Advisory Council (BAC) Consultation; and the 29th AEM Retreat in Magelang, Central Java province, from March 20 to March 22, 2023. (Antaranews)