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With the global economy rapidly fragmenting, Singapore must do more to advance regional integration when it assumes the rotating ASEAN chairmanship next year, while showing the world that ASEAN remains \u201copen for business\u201d. <\/p>\n
Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong<\/a> outlined two very broad directions for Singapore’s economic work next year in an interview with Singapore media in Manila on Saturday (14 November): further strengthening integration within ASEAN while expanding external collaboration. <\/p>\n DPM Gan said that even as the global economy fragments, we do want ASEAN<\/a> to be integrated. \u201cIt’s also a very important signal to the world that ASEAN is open for business.\u201d <\/p>\n He said that while member states compete with one another, competition also makes them stronger. \u201cWe see a lot of opportunities for ASEAN members to work together, where we have shared interests, common concerns.\u201d <\/p>\n On regional cooperation, DPM Gan said he was pleased that the upgraded ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) was on track to enter into force, adding that ASEAN is working towards bringing it into force earlier, so that businesses can benefit sooner. <\/p>\n ASEAN is also considering a proposed Green Economy Framework Agreement (GEFA) to identify areas in which member states can advance cooperation. Ministers received a briefing on a feasibility study at Saturday’s meeting, with encouraging preliminary findings. <\/p>\n DPM Gan said ASEAN member states had differing concerns about sustainability and the green economy. \u201cWe hope to be able to finish the feasibility study as soon as possible and advance discussions next year, embarking on a scoping exercise to identify the areas we want to focus on. We will then begin to negotiate a potential green economy framework agreement.\u201d <\/p>\n On energy cooperation, the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry<\/a> said in a statement that the enhanced memorandum of understanding on the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) had also been formally established. Regional power grid cooperation will shift its focus from commitments to implementation, advancing cross-border electricity connections. <\/p>\n ASEAN will also continue to deepen existing partnerships and expand external cooperation. The Canadian Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Saturday that negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with ASEAN had been substantially concluded, with the aim of signing it in 2027. <\/p>\n DPM Gan said ASEAN was also reviewing and preparing to upgrade its free trade agreements with South Korea and India. Besides working with individual countries, ASEAN is exploring how to strengthen ties with the EU, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). <\/p>\n \u201cWe are also discussing several other potential FTAs and negotiation with our partners. I think in time to come, we’ll see ASEAN playing an even more important role in the regional economy as well as with our partners.\u201d <\/p>\n Singapore will take over the rotating ASEAN chairmanship next year, which marks the bloc’s 60th anniversary. Gan said the economic progress made during the Philippines’ chairmanship was encouraging and had laid the groundwork for Singapore to continue deepening regional cooperation. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n With the global economy rapidly fragmenting, Singapore must do more to advance regional integration when it assumes the rotating ASEAN chairmanship next year, while showing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/99638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Green economy framework proposed; power grid memorandum formalised <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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