KOTA KINABALU: The two-day ASEAN Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) Retreat 2025, which concludes tomorrow, serves as a crucial preparatory session aimed at addressing unresolved matters from the previous ASEAN chairmanship. The meeting is pivotal for updating and aligning strategies under Malaysia’s upcoming leadership.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), which will spearhead ASEAN’s Economic Pillar under Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025, emphasized the retreat’s focus on evaluating the implementation status of Laos’ priority economic deliverables (PEDs). MITI’s statement highlighted the importance of these discussions in ensuring continuity and progress within the ASEAN economic framework.
A significant agenda item involves Malaysia’s presentation of the proposed PED for 2025, which MITI has developed in collaboration with various Malaysian ministries and agencies under the ASEAN Economic Pillar. These proposals are set for deliberation among
ASEAN member states. The ASEAN SEOM Leads are tasked with refining and endorsing the final PEDs at the upcoming SEOM Meeting in January 2025, which will then be submitted to the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) for formal adoption at the AEM Retreat in February 2025.
Furthermore, the retreat will review the implementation of the 2024 annual priorities and discuss the proposed priorities for 2025 concerning the sectoral bodies under SEOM’s jurisdiction. MITI also noted that the progress on drafting the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Strategic Plan for 2026-2030, aligned with the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, will be a key topic in the retreat discussions.
The meeting is chaired by MITI’s deputy secretary-general (Trade), Mastura Ahmad Mustafa, who also serves as the SEOM chair for 2025. It brings together SEOM leads from all member states, with Malaysia represented by MITI’s senior director of the ASEAN Economic Integration Division, Sugumari S Shanmugam.
During her welcoming remarks at the retreat’s dinner, M
astura emphasized ASEAN’s focus on executing Malaysia’s list of PEDs and achieving a significant milestone with the launch of the AEC Strategic Plan for 2026-2030, in conjunction with the ASEAN Community Vision 2045. She expressed confidence in Malaysia’s ability to accomplish the planned activities with the support of all ASEAN member states, highlighting the importance of unity and collaboration in advancing ASEAN’s objectives.