Jakarta (VNA) – The ASEAN Secretariat and the European UnionDelegation in ASEAN announced the Mid-term Review (MTR) of the ASEAN Economic Communi💝tyBlueprint 2025 on April 28.

Speaking at theevent, ASEAN Secretary General Dato Lim Jock Hoi said the mid-term review ismeant to assess progress in the first five years of the blueprintimplementation. The lessons learned and recommendations from the MTR will inform ASEAN Economic integration towards 2025 and beyond. According to him, there are three keytakeaways from this MTR. First, good progress was made in the AEC, but it isnot enough. ASEAN must accelerate the implementation, focusing on quality andhigh impact measures and those that deliver the benefits to the people,especially the vulnerables. Due attention must be also given to ensure the implementation of AEC key agreements, address crosscutting issues and strengthen cross sectoral and cross pillar coordination. Second, next face ofthe ASEAN economic integration is taking place in a different context. Comparedto when the AC blueprint was adopted in 2015, addressing issues like climatechange, digital transformation, and incorporating inclusive and sustainabilityconsiderations are becoming more urgent, amidst a more uncertain global,geopolitical and economic landscape.

Third, the AEC must remain open andengaged to reflect what businesses, workers and consumers experience in theregion. Therefore, ASEAN need to strengthen integration, monitoring to betteridentify implementation gaps and evaluate progress objectively. Cooperation andpartnership are a prerequisite in addressing these challenges together, especiallythose that go beyond borders.

Hailing the🌠 MTR as another proudmilestone for ASEAN and for the ASEAN Economic Community, EU Ambassador toASEAN Igor Driesman said both the EU andASEAN have enjoyed a long-standing friendship, actually 44 years now, which hasgrown stronger into a steadfast strategic partnership. The EU has given supportto the ASEAN Economic Community and the economic integration agenda for manyyears.

TheEuropean diplomat affirmed that the EU will continue supporting AEC buildingbased on MTR’s recommendations,  notably in pursuing phase two of the ASEAN Economicintegration journey until 2025. Recommendations such as the need to strengthencoordination, monitoring and evaluation mechanism to advance the AEC agenda andits diversity, to deepen sectoral cooperation, and to further strengthenstakeholder consultation and engagement.

Deputy Minister of Industryand Trade Tran Quoc Khanh, for his part, lauded the ASEAN Secretariat for its great efforts and hard work in completing an insightful and comprehensivereport of the AEC blueprint 2025 which provides the whole picture of itsimplementation.

He said ASEAN needs to work more tofurther enhance intra-bloc trade, and hoped that the report will be analysed thoroughlyby ASEAN member states, with a view to building specific workpꦐlans to effectively complete the remaining goals set out in the AEC blueprint2025./.