11 Jan 2020
HANOI, 11 January 2020 – Senior Economic Officials and Chairs of sectoral bodies of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) pillar met today for the 10th Meeting of the Committee of the Whole for the AEC (CoW) in Ha Noi, Viet Nam, to take stock on AEC implementation progress, share their priorities for 2020, and coordinate on cross-cutting issues.
They were joined by the Committee of Permanent Representatives, along with the Chairs or representatives of the Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM), the Senior Officials’ Meeting of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (SOCA), and the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Connectivity (ACCC), to exchange information on the priorities of the respective community pillars and identify potential areas for collaboration. The Chair of the ASEAN-Business Advisory Council also participated to share their priorities for the year.
Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for AEC, Dr Aladdin D. Rillo, chaired the meeting and facilitated discussions. Dr Rillo underscored the importance of the CoW in coordinating and ensuring the effectiveness of ASEAN economic integration efforts, given the growing interconnectedness of issues faced by the region and the emergence of new or prominent issues that may not be previously anticipated.
The Committee discussed the priority economic deliverables for Viet Nam’s 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship under the theme “Cohesive and Responsive.” These deliverables fall under the three strategic themes of promoting intra-ASEAN economic integration and connectivity, deepening ASEAN engagement with the global community for peace and sustainable development, and enhancing the responsiveness and institutional capacity of ASEAN.
Further, the Committee discussed progress in the development of the consolidated strategy on the fourth industrial revolution for ASEAN, as well as the conduct of the Mid-Term Review of the AEC Blueprint 2025, among others.
The CoW is held annually at the beginning of each year, and serves as the main platform for cross-sectoral coordination for the AEC as well as exchange on cross-cutting issues across community pillars.
