Digi business marketing and operations head Steven Soon (second from left) delivering his speech as (from left) Johor South SME Association advisor Teh Kee Sin, RHB Bank Bhd commercial banking head Azlina Safian and PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd chief operating officer P’ng Tean Hau look on duri...
One for the album: (From left) Teh, Soon, Azlina and P’ng posing for photograph after their panel discussion session at the SOBA LAB programme at Trove Hotel in Johor Baru.JOHOR BARU: Digitalisation is the way forward for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and they have to start planning now,...
Unofficial figures show that some 300,000 Malaysians commute daily from Johor to Singapore to work. — FilepicJOHOR BARU: The state government is looking at the positive angle when it comes to the high number of Malaysians, including Johoreans, working in Singapore.Johor education, human resour...
An SME expo showcasing the productsKUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's small business sector experienced positive business conditions in 2018 and confidence in business and economic growth is at its highest point since 2012, according to new survey data released today by CPA Australia. The findings from CPA A...
KUALA LUMPUR: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should capitalise on the RM517mil funding made available by Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd’s (MIDF) and Malaysian Technology Development Corp (MTDC) under the Soft Loan Scheme for Automation and Modernisation (SLSAM).MIDF group ma...
PETALING JAYA: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is tabling Budget 2019 in Parliament, the first federal budget by the Pakatan Harapan government.The tabling of the Supply Bill (Budget) 2019 will commence before Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, and will be debated by the Members of Par...
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has urged inclusiveness and sustainability to be at the core of Asean policies to build a truly integrated bloc.
In urging this, Najib said being a community meant placing appropriate emphasis on the development agenda.
Opening the 48th Asean Ministers Meeting (AMM) at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur today, he noted that Asean's 10 member states were at different stages, and narrowing these gaps was not optional.
"It is essential if we're to build a truly integrated Asean, which is why inclusiveness and sustainability must be at the heart of our policies going forward," Najib said.
Najib, who is also finance minister, pointed out that an increasingly integrated Aseam was on course to be the world's fourth largest economy by 2050.
"Some even estimate that we could be the fourth largest market after the European Union, the United States and China by 2030, only 15 years from now," he said.
Asean has third biggest workforce
"We (Asean) already have the third biggest workforce after India and China, and it's entirely realistic for us to see ourselves as a 'Third Force' in Asia," Najib said.
The prime minister stressed that Asean should be confident about its future and be vocal about its confidence.
He told those gathered at the opening session that if Asean was sometimes underestimated, "we must be careful that we are not guilty of that ourselves".
"It's timely for Asean's united voice to be heard more frequently at multilateral fora," Najib said, adding that there was no reason why Asean should not take a more active role in the international community and look beyond its borders, together.
He drove home the point that this was partly because many issues today, such as climate change, transnational crime, the threat of extremism and migration could not be resolved by individual nations alone.
Region-to-region cooperation
"Region-to-region cooperation and dialogue is more effective at dealing with issues of such magnitude," the prime minister said.
Najib also commended past and present regional foreign ministers who had built and strengthened the grouping's regional cooperation and taking bold steps when necessary - such as when they acted swiftly to deal with the recent crisis of irregular migration in Southeast Asia.
"This was a considerable test for Asean, but all parties concerned managed to handle it in a timely and effective manner," he said.
The Malaysian leader said 2015 provided another kind of test for Asean as it adopts the Asean Community Vision 2020 at the 27th Asean Summit in November.
Regional cooperation aside, Najib said Asean should not be shy in reaching out and connecting with the world, including with its dialogue and sectoral partners, such as those in the East Asia Summit and Asean Regional Forum.