Kuala lumpur: The proportion of ASEAN’s population living below the national poverty line declined from 13.3 percent in 2016 to 10.8 percent in 2023, placing the region firmly on track to achieve its poverty reduction target by 2030. Deputy Minister of Economy Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib highlighted the importance of acknowledging ongoing challenges despite the positive trend.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Hanifah emphasized that development gaps persist both across and within ASEAN member states. She pointed out issues such as rural poverty, limited access to quality education, and digital exclusion as significant challenges to the region’s commitment to leaving no one behind. These disparities require targeted policies, guided by robust data and inclusive engagement, as she noted in her keynote address at the 15th Session of the ASEAN Community Statistical System Committee (ACSS15).

The five-day program, themed ‘Advancing ASEAN Through Inclusive Data and Innovation’, was also attended by Chief Statistician Datuk Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin and Director of the ASEAN Integration Monitoring Directorate, ASEAN Statistics Division (ASEANStats), ASEAN Secretariat Dr. Ahmad Zafarullah Abdul Jalil. Hanifah stressed the need for stronger emphasis on statistical literacy and public trust, asserting that when citizens understand and believe in the data, they become active participants in shaping policies that affect their lives.

She further remarked on ASEAN’s resilience and dynamism in the global economy, noting that total trade in goods reached approximately USD 3.56 trillion in 2023, accounting for eight percent of global trade, despite representing only three percent of the world’s population. This underscores ASEAN’s growing role as a hub for production networks, investment, and supply chain integration, with 78 percent of ASEAN’s trade occurring with partners outside the region and intra-ASEAN trade accounting for 22 percent of total trade.

Hanifah Hajar underscored the importance of translating ASEAN’s trade dynamism into inclusive and sustainable growth, which requires data-informed strategies to promote equitable access to markets, strengthen SME participation, and support the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025. She also praised the initiative to establish a one-stop reference center for ASEAN-level data, which will consolidate harmonized indicators, metadata, dashboards, and open datasets across member states, marking a significant step toward transparency, accessibility, and regional solidarity.