ASEAN eager for more EU investment; latter seeks FTAs


The European Union (EU) is seeking more free trade agreements (FTAs) with members of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) while the latter is eager to attract more investment to the region from Europe. ASEAN members are a potential investment destination for European nations, Cambodian commerce minister Pan Sorasak told the tenth ASEAN-EU Business Summit in Brussels.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has also called for closer cooperation between the EU and its ASEAN partners.

The EU is seeking more free trade agreements with members of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) while the latter is eager to attract more investment to the region from Europe. ASEAN members are a potential investment destination for European nations, Cambodian commerce minister Pan Sorasak told the tenth ASEAN-EU Business Summit in Brussels.

“We want to trade more with each other. We already are each other’s third-largest trading partners. Our free trade agreements with Vietnam and Singapore are delivering. That is impressive,” she was quoted as saying by Cambodian media reports.

The EU president also said the bloc wants to conclude more such agreements with ASEAN countries. The EU’s ultimate goal would be to negotiate a region-to-region free trade agreement, she noted.

Sorasak said the private sector is a driving force in promoting the effective implementation of mechanisms set by the governments of regional countries.

She said the EU wanted to accelerate the clean energy revolution and it has launched a Just Energy Transition Partnership with Vietnam, similar to the one it has with Indonesia. It also decided to start an EU-ASEAN new Energy Dialogue

Bilateral trade between Cambodia and EU reached $4.98 billion in 2021, up by 4.6 per cent from a year earlier.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)




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