Jakarta (VNA)🌃 – The 14th ASEAN ConnectivitySymposium with the theme “Promoting Connectivity towards ASEAN as anEpicentrum of growth” opened in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Speaking at the event, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister forEconomic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto emphasised that connectivity is the key todeveloping inclusive economic development in the ASEAN region. Besides policy making, it is necessary to boost regionalinfrastructure development and connectivity in ASEAN, he said. He said the launch of the Digital Economy Framework Agreement(DEFA) in the momentum of Indonesia's Chairmanship in ASEAN this year willdouble the value of the digital economy in ASEAN by 2030, from 1 trillion USD to 2 trillion USD. The sustainable economic agenda will also be acceleratedthrough the development of a regional electric vehicle ecosystem. Furthermore, ASEAN countries are also committed to developingthe Post-2025 ASEAN Connectivity Agenda as part of the Post-2025 ASEANCommunity. In this regard, the development of the Post-2025 ASEAN ConnectivityAgenda will be carried out with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) asthe main reference. The Indonesian official said that he hopes that thePost-2025 ASEAN Connectivity Agenda will accommodate action plans that are inline with the implementation of Local Currency Transactions (LCT) and ASEAN'splans to develop an electric vehicle ecosystem. President of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN andEast Asia (ERIA) Professor Tetsuya Watanabe said that ASEAN connectivity hasproven to be the basis of ASEAN's post-pandemic recovery strategy whichinvolves policy coordination, pooling resources, and forming partnerships tostrengthen regional resilience so that it becomes stronger. Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for the ASEANEconomic Community Satvinder Singh said that ASEAN must continue to buildcapacity and strengthen its regional foothold to maximise the benefits of ASEANconnectivity and the ASEAN Economic Community. The ASEAN economy has shown positive performance in the lastdecade with an average growth of 4-5%. In 2022, the ASEAN economy grew at 5.7%year-on-year and is predicted to continue to grow positively in 2023. In theworld, the ASEAN region is the 5th largest economy and the 4th largestexporter, and in 2022 it became the world’s second-largest destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction. The growth of the ASEAN economy supported by the connectivitywill help boost regional resilience in 2023 and the following years. At the43rd ASEAN Summit held last September, commitments related to ASEANconnectivity were made, among other things, to ensure effective implementationof the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and Mid-Term Review (MTRs) recommendationsto the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025./.