On August 28, 2020, 8th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers’ Meeting (EAS-EMM) was held virtually which was attended by Economic Ministers from the ten ASEAN Member States, Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and the United States.
- The Meeting was chaired by Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam. From Indian side it was attended by Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce and Industry.
- During the meet discussions were held to accelerate economic growth, maintain supply chains and market stability, and strengthen the economic resilience of the EAS region post COVID-19.
Key Points:
-The Ministers welcomed regional initiatives to mitigate the impact of the pandemic including the establishment of the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund, as well as the work towards the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Reserve of Medical Supplies and the Standard Operating Procedures for Public Health Emergencies Response.
-Notably, there is increasing trade and strong investment performance among the EAS economies, with the combined nominal GDP (gross domestic Product) reaching US$ 51.6 trillion in 2019, an increase by 4.1 per cent from previous year.
-ASEAN merchandise trade with non-ASEAN EAS participating countries amounted to US$ 1.3 trillion in 2019, accounting for 48.1% of ASEAN’s total trade while Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) reached to US$ 61.2 billion, representing 38.1% of ASEAN’s total FDI inflows.
Recent Related News:
On June 26, 2020, the 36th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit was held via video conference on the theme “Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN”. The summit was chaired by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as Vietnam is ASEAN’s chair in 2020. The focus of the meet was on COVID-19 response, post-pandemic recovery and further cooperation with partners.
About Association of Southeast Asian Nations:
Secretariat– Jakarta, Indonesia
Chairman– Nguyen Xuan Phuc
Secretary General– H.E. Dato Lim Jock Hoi
