Oleh Radzuan Ghazali
Foto  Abdul Raai Osman

KUALA LUMPUR, 5 October 2016 – UKM’s Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS) successfully organized the ASEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION FORUM 2016 (AEIF 2016) at the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration, recently.

Themed “Towards Global ASEAN: Prospects, Impacts and Challenges”, the forum served as a platform for discussions on socio-economic and political impacts of ASEAN’s economic integration on its member states and the region and critically analyzed the prospects and challenges of economic integration among ASEAN members and the region.

According to UKM Vice-Chancellor Prof. Datuk Dr. Noor Azlan Ghazali, the discourse not only contributed to the rich literature on Southeast Asia and ASEAN but most importantly it will help policy makers, business communities and other stakeholders in charting a people-centric and environmentally friendly regional economic development.

He added that this was UKM’s second time collaborating with the University of Oxford and World Trade Institute (WTI) to organize this forum.

“Some of the issues which will be discussed are on ways to optimize ASEAN Economic Community’s role in fostering an economic integration among ASEAN members and ultimately create economic market that is worth USD2.6 trillion in terms of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” said Prof. Noor Azlan.

The forum also saw the launch of a book written by Prof Julien Chaisses of University of Hong Kong and IKMAS’s Deputy Director Associate Professor Dr. Sufian Jusoh, titled The Asean Comprehensive Investment Agreement: The Regionalisation of Laws and Policy on Foreign Investment, by Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohamad.

The two-day forum was attended by approximately 100 local and international participants who represented the governments, private sectors and Non-government Organizations.

Also present at the forum were Republic of Timor Leste Minister of Economy Affairs, Estanisiau de Silva, High Commisioner of Solomon Islands, Vicor Samuel Ngele, and Director of IKMAS, Prof Dr Rashila Ramli.