The third ASEAN-EU Business Summit will take place in Hanoi on
March 8-9 in conjunction with the 19 th ASEAN Ministers Retreat
Meeting.
The summit will be jointly held by the European Union
(EU), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the
Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, the European Chamber of
Commerce in Vietnam, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the
EU-ASEAN Business Council, the ASEAN Business Advisory Council and the
ASEAN Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
It serves as
a high-level dialogue platform for businesses and Governments of the EU
and ASEAN member countries to boost trade and investment.
The success of the first Business Summit in Jakarta in 2001 and the
second in Phnom Penh in 2012 has shown that the ASEAN-EU Business
Summit offers an opportunity for the business communities of ASEAN and
the EU to interact and directly covey their views, concerns and wishes
to economic leaders from the two regions.
As many as
600 local and international high-level policy makers and international
business leaders will seek ways to further improve business in the most
relevant trade and investment sectors such as agri-food, automotive,
financial services, ICT, infrastructure/connectivity and
pharmaceuticals.
Results of the discussions will be
presented to the ten ASEAN Trade Ministers and EU Commissioner for
Trade at the end of the summit, making it an ideal platform to advance
private sector recommendations to policy makers on regional issues.
In the past years, ASEAN has achieved world-wide recognition for being
one of the most dynamic and integrated regions. The growing purchasing
power of 600 million consumers and the ongoing progress of regional
agendas are offering an integrated market and production base for both
businesses and consumers.
As the world’s largest
single market with 500 million consumers and an abundant source of top
quality investments, the EU presents great potential to bring advanced
technologies, innovation and expertise to ten dynamic economies of
ASEAN.-VNA