11th ERIA Roundtable Key Participants, Phnom Penh, 20 October 2022

On the occasion of the roundtable organized by the Jakarta-based Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) along with Khmer Times at Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh focusing on ‘Asean Vision Beyond 2025’ on 20 October 2028, Dr. SOK Siphana, Founding Member of SOK SIPHANA & ASSOCIATES and Chairman of the Asian Vision Institute reiterated the vast potential of the ASEAN region and called to strengthen intra-regional trade in view of the uncertainties the world is facing. 

“ASEAN is a big market with a population of over 600 million. Why don’t we sell more to each other? We can also make use of the opportunities thrown open by e-commerce and strengthen our SMEs …. We need to focus inwardly also now. Strengthen the trade among ourselves (ASEAN Member States) so that we don’t anymore overly depend on any particular country or bloc outside,” Dr. SOK said. 

The roundtable concluded ‘The trade volume of Asean is $3 trillion now and this would double in the next two decades. With a young population, there is also a demographic dividend to be harvested… So, ASEAN has significant clout and we have to move beyond geo-political issues’ 

More about the Roundtable: Asean told to strengthen regional ties, trade to fight global woes – Khmer Times (khmertimeskh.com)