Brunei - ASEAN business summit kicks off

THE ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ASEAN-BIS) will set the stage for further development of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) when it commences today in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The business summit, which ends tomorrow, will start with an open dialogue session with business leaders on "Opportunities and Challenges of Expanding Markets in East Asia".

This session will discuss in-depth how ASEAN businesses can penetrate markets outside of ASEAN borders through the existing ASEAN+1 Free Trade Agreements and Comprehensive Economic Partnerships.

Parallel sessions on "Building an Interconnected ASEAN Economic Community" will see delegates undergo two separate discussions on "The Potential of Renewable Energy in ASEAN" and "Capitalising on ASEAN Connectivity".

This will be followed by another dialogue session on the prospects for increasing ASEAN's position as a competitive investment hub, which will look into the importance of the promotion of good corporate governance by ASEAN governments and its private sectors, and also explore the potential of the recently launched ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) to increase both the quantity and quality of investments in the region.

The opening session of the final day, titled "Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar: The Next Frontier of ASEAN", will explore the least developed ASEAN member states and the increasing significance of their roles in helping shape the ASEAN integration process.

There will also be parallel sessions to discuss ways to empower SMEs, where delegates will deliberate on promoting the funding of SMEs and the importance of fostering entrepreneurship in the region as one of the key drivers of growth. In a separate discussion, "In Looking Forward: What does the future hold for ASEAN", delegates will look at viewpoints shared by the secretary-general of ASEAN, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and Asian Development Bank Institute.

The summit will also pay tribute to the "most admired ASEAN enterprises" with the ASEAN Business Awards 2012, which will be held on the sidelines.

The Brunei Times

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