WHITHER MALAYSIA'S COMPETITIVENESS AND ITS ROLE IN ASEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IN ENHANCING ASEAN-EU ECONOMIC RELATIONS?

The rhetoric is clear: the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and enhanced ASEAN-EU economic relations are good for business. How can Malaysia ensure it benefits from both the AEC and deepening ASEAN-EU economic relationship?

On the other hand, ASEAN-EU economic relations seem to be crowded out other global developments such as the completion of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the intense negotiations to conclude the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

So how can Malaysia and the EU-Malaysian business community, specifically, benefit from and contribute to enhancing and deepening this relationship, even as ASEAN works to deepen regional economic integration?