The EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC), the European Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (EuroCham Singapore) and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) have today announced that the 6th ASEAN-EU Business Summit will take place on 2nd March 2018 in Singapore.
The Summit is an annual event, which brings together leading CEOs from Europe and Southeast Asia with policy and decision makers from regional governments and the European Commission to debate and discuss improvements to the trade and investment relationship between the EU and ASEAN. This will be the first time that the Summit has been held in ASEAN’s financial hub as the Lion City takes on the Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2018.
With discussions already begun on a framework agreement for a region-to-region Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Europe and ASEAN, and with ASEAN’s own economic integration project developing further, the Summit will come at key time – allowing participants to hear the latest updates on how the trade and investment relationship is developing, as well as the views of key business leaders on their aspirations for the future.
Announcing the Summit, Donald Kanak, Chairman of the EU-ABC said: “This Summit is the key flagship event of the year for the EU-ABC, and we are very pleased to be partnering with EuroCham Singapore and SBF for its production as equal joint-organisers. The Summit comes at a key time: as our recent 2017 Business Sentiment Survey showed, European business optimism for ASEAN is at an all-time high, with an overwhelmingly positive sentiment towards the growth prospects for the region, and a clear desire for the EU to move faster in striking trade deals with ASEAN and its Member States. With the prospect of a region-to-region FTA, and more bilateral FTAs between the EU and ASEAN, we can only see an already very strong trade and investment relationship getting even stronger.”
Also commenting on the announcement of the Summit, Stefano Poli, President of EuroCham Singapore, added: “We are anticipating a very high level of participation at the Summit from Ministers from around the region and from European and ASEAN Businesses. With the EU the number one source of FDI to ASEAN, and ASEAN’s second largest trading partner, there is much to be proud of in the relationship between the two regions. The Summit will be both a celebration of that relationship, and an opportunity for Ministers and senior business people to look at ways of deepening that relationship further.”
Dr Robert Yap, Chairman of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, also added: “2018 marks a new phase of relationship between ASEAN and EU with the conclusion of ASEAN-EU Plan of Action (2018 – 2022) which paves the way ahead for ASEAN and EU. The ASEAN-EU Business Summit remains a key platform connecting businesses across the two regions, and at the same time, provide recommendations to enhance business environment in ASEAN.”
The Summit programme will include a number of key-note addresses from Ministers and leading business people as well as a series of panel discussions on subjects such as:
- Advancing the ASEAN Economic Community
- Driving more FDI from the EU to ASEAN
- Ensuring sustainable development across ASEAN with high rates of urbanisation
- Establishing a digital economy in ASEAN
This will be the sixth iteration of the ASEAN-EU Business Summit, following earlier Summits held in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The last summit was on 10th March 2017 in Manila. Further details about the Summit, including schedule, registrations and sponsorship opportunities, can be found at www.asean-eu-summit.org.
