JAKARTA, Indonesia, Sept 3 -- Over 150 business representatives from the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the United States shared
recommendation for promoting economic growth and innovation on August 31, in
direct dialogue with Asean Economic Ministers and the US Trade Representative
to the first Asean-US Business Summit was held on the sidelines of the annual
meeting of Asean’s top economic officials.
“We are pleased to be here today
to underline the Asean-US relationship,” said Cham Prasidh, Cambodian Minister
of Commerce and Asean Economic Ministers Chairperson in his opening remarks.
“And we are pleased to be talking about the digital economy as it will no doubt
enhance the competitiveness of this region.”
A statement from the Asean said
businesses and government officials exchanged views on doing business in the
digitized world and how Asean can help business of all sizes take advantage of
innovations such as cloud computing, innovations in the food industry, and the
use of technology to enhance business competitiveness and trade.
Major US companies such as
Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble, HP, Google and Goldman Sachs attended to share
policy insights and network with businesses from all over the Asean region.
US Ambassador to Asean, David L.
Carden joined Cambodia’s commerce minister and secretary general of ASEAN,
Surin Pitsuwan, to open the event on behalf of US Trade Representative Ron
Kirk, who was delayed in travel and arrived in Siem Reap mid-morning.
“The United States is eager to
discuss how we can engage with Asean to create an attractive digital business
environment, said Carden, “Together, we will continue to support more and
better jobs, higher standards of living, and greater prosperity for people in
the United States and Asean.”
Surin added, “We have been
talking about holding an Asean-US Business Summit for a long time and we are
finally here. We are here talking about contributing to growth on both sides.”
The US-Asean Business Council,
Asean Business Advisory Council, Export-Import Bank of the United States, the
US Commercial Service and the World Bank held a session to examine programs and
opportunities for business-to-business linkages and trade facilitation.
Peter Lovelock of Technology
Research Project Corporate in Singapore provided an overview of cloud computing
and its long-term implications for the Asean business environment.
Businesses discussed the rapid
adoption of technology and relevant regulatory frameworks in Asean, gains in
efficiency and competitiveness achieved through innovations such as the
digitization of operations and transport of goods to market, the importance of
helping smaller businesses access the digital frontier, and the importance of
innovation in helping to develop and ensure stability of Asean’s domestic food
industries.
At the close of the summit businesses
shared the results of the day’s discussions directly with the Asean Economic
Ministers and the US Trade Representative, who had met earlier in the day to
discuss advancement of the Asean-US Trade and Investment Framework arrangement.
The Asean-US Business Summit was
organized by the Cambodia Ministry of Commerce, the US Trade Representative’s
office, and the US Government-funded Asean-US Technical Assistance and Training
Facility. (ASEAN)
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