KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — Demographic challenges currently faced by Asean economies are among the vital points to be addressed in the Asean Community Vision (ACV) 2045 for the next 20 years.
Asean for AEC Deputy Secretary General Satvinder Singh said that as the bloc moves towards the upper middle-income community, some Asean economies are facing a rapidly ageing population rate.
"You see that Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, and even Vietnam, are going to see a large portion of their population entering the super-aged category.
"Demography, ageing... these are things that we have to take into consideration in planning and re-organising the ACV that is expected to be launched this year under Malaysia's chairmanship," he said in his keynote presentation titled "Leading Asean Towards an Inclusive and Sustainable Future" today.
Speaking at the Asean Economic Opinion Leaders Conference: Outlook For 2025, Satvinder said that addressing the challenges could boost domestic strength for all the economies on the back of uncertainties of the geopolitical environment.
"A lot of plans are addressed at the sectoral level, addressing not only export strengths but also how we generate and create what I call domestic spending and domestic expenses in our societies," he said.
By doing this, Asean nations will then be able to survive any disruptions, especially in realising the bloc as a regional middle power.
Apart from demographics, Satvinder said the enhanced blueprint will also look at digitalisation, climate change and sustainability by deriving the economic potentials of the bloc.
He stressed that Asean economies have done well in several sectors like semiconductors, agriculture, as well as data centres, chemicals and energy, mining and metals, automobiles, and healthcare.
"There is going to be a lot of new movements into new sectors like artificial intelligence (AI) that will likely impact (the rapid change in the region) as well as industries that are sustainable.
"I think in the next stage of our growth and development in terms of opportunities, this is what Asean is going to be driving very hard at," Satvinder said.
— Bernama
