Ms Jukhee Hong, ASEAN-BAC Malaysia’s Consulting Director, was invited to be a panellist at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS)’ webinar on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2025 Blueprint. The discussion, which focused on the stumbling blocks in the creation of the AEC, was moderated by Dr Juita Mohamad, IDEAS’ Director of Research and Director of Economics & Business.

Ms Jukhee said that while ASEAN aspires to become a single market, the reality is that regional economic integration remains wanting. ASEAN’s integration efforts are centred on trade facilitation and other matters such as the removal of non-tariff barriers should be expedited.

Ms Jukhee also shared the outcomes of ASEAN-BAC Malaysia’s Virtual Dialogues with over 55 Trade Associations, Chambers of Commerce, Professional Bodies, Foreign Business Associations and Business Councils in Malaysia that was held on 30 March 2022, which led to the Pathway for Malaysia 2022 Report.

According to the report, Malaysian businesses are most concerned about domestic issues and less concerned about issues such as regional economic integration. This, she said, could also be a reason for the general lack of progress.

The webinar panellists were Prof Dr Tulus Tambunan, Director of the Center for Industry, SME, and Business Competition Studies at Trisakti University, Indonesia, as well as Prof Dr Sufian Jusoh, Principal Fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.