Regional ministers seek ways to facilitate ASEAN trade
Economic ministers from ASEAN member nations convened an online meeting on June 4 to implement instructions from ASEAN leaders made at the Special ASEAN Summit on COVID-19 on April 14.
Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Economic ministers from ASEANmember nations convened an online meeting on June 4 to implement instructions fromASEAN leaders made at the Special ASEAN Summit on COVID-19 on April 14.
Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade ofVietnam, which holds the ASEAN Chairmanship 2020, chaired the meeting.
The ministers approved the Hanoi Action Plan, whichaims to enhance economic cooperation within the bloc and connect supply chains amidthe changing circumstances in the region caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The action plan was built on the basis of a jointstatement from ASEAN economic ministers, which was proposed by Vietnam andadopted at the ASEAN Economic Ministers Retreat in March.
It includes concrete measures to reboot ASEAN’seconomy, such as maintaining commitments to market opening to ensure foodsecurity and enhancing the capacity for recovery and sustainability in regionalsupply chains.
Apart from avoiding new and unnecessary non-tariffmeasures, the bloc will also build a platform to facilitate regional trade andpromote and support supply chain connectivity.
It will also optimise technologies and digitalcommerce to assist enterprises, especially micro-small- and medium-sized enterprises(MSMEs).
The approval of the action plan demonstrates the roleof the ASEAN Community in responding and adapting to COVID-19 as well asVietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020.
The ministers also looked into joint statements issuedby business advisory councils, including the ASEAN Business Advisory Council./.
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Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam (Photo: VNA) 
