ASEAN Economy Shows Resilience and Vitality (International Perspective)
2024-09-20
Since the beginning of this year, ASEAN countries have experienced stable economic growth. The latest report released by consulting firm McKinsey believes that the economies of ASEAN countries have maintained resilience and achieved widespread growth this year, with Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries growing rapidly in the past four quarters. The economic and trade exchanges between China and ASEAN countries are constantly improving, and practical cooperation in various fields is deepening. ASEAN countries look forward to further strengthening cooperation with China to achieve mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. Recently, ASEAN countries have achieved widespread economic growth, and their economic data for the second quarter of this year has been released one after another. According to data released by Indonesia's Central Bureau of Statistics, the country's economy grew by 5.05% year-on-year in the second quarter, and the overall economy grew by 5.08% in the first half of the year. The National Bank of Malaysia stated that the country's economic growth rate was 4.2% in the first quarter and 5.9% in the second quarter, which is also the fastest growth rate of the Malaysian economy in the past six quarters. The National Economic and Social Development Commission of Thailand stated that the country's economic growth rate in the second quarter was 2.3%, higher than the 1.5% in the first quarter. The overall economic growth rate in the first half of the year was 1.9%, and it is expected that the annual economic growth rate will be 2.3% -2.8%. The export trade of multiple ASEAN countries is showing a growth trend, providing important impetus for economic development. Bhumibol Adulyadej, Director of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office of the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand, stated that in the first seven months of this year, Thailand's exports reached $171.01 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. Agricultural and industrial exports increased by 4% and 3.8% respectively. To promote rice exports, the Thai Ministry of Commerce has also strengthened its connections with major export markets by participating in various trade exhibitions to promote Thai rice. According to the data from Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment, the export value of Vietnamese goods in the first half of the year was 1900.9 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%. Among them, manufacturing exports accounted for 87.7%, with an export value of 166.79 billion US dollars; Next are agricultural and forestry products and aquatic products, with export values of 16.64 billion US dollars and 4.36 billion US dollars, respectively. Cambodia actively expands trade with other members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). According to a report from the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce, the trade volume between Cambodia and other RCEP members reached 19.87 billion US dollars in the first seven months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 16.8%. Since the beginning of this year, ASEAN countries have also made progress in attracting foreign direct investment. In the first half of the year, Thailand attracted a total of 81.487 billion Thai baht (approximately 4.71 Thai baht per Chinese yuan) in foreign direct investment. In the first half of the year, Cambodia approved over 190 foreign investment projects with an agreed investment amount of 3.25 billion US dollars. Among them, China invested 1.38 billion US dollars in Cambodia, accounting for 42.6% of the total investment. The Asian Development Bank recently released a report stating that the Purchasing Managers' Index of manufacturing in some ASEAN countries is in an expanding range, which will further stimulate investment and promote economic growth. It is expected that the overall economic growth rate of ASEAN this year will be 4.6%, higher than last year's 4.1%. According to Pu Zhishui, Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank, the region's economy is expected to maintain stable growth in the next two years, driven by favorable factors. In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund has adjusted the economic growth rates of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Laos this year to 6%, 5%, 4.4%, and 4%, respectively. The tourism and emerging industries are accelerating their development. HSBC pointed out in a report that the current economic performance of ASEAN countries is stable, but more stimulus policies are needed to maintain growth momentum. Currently, many ASEAN countries are taking various measures to promote economic growth, especially actively developing industries such as tourism and digital economy. Southeast Asia has abundant tourism resources, and many ASEAN countries regard tourism as one of the main driving forces for economic development. To promote the growth of the tourism industry, ASEAN countries have successively introduced measures to facilitate entry and tourism. Taking Thailand as an example, tourism revenue accounts for over 15% of the country's total economic output. Starting from July 15th, Thailand has extended the visa free stay for tourists, business people, and short-term workers from 93 countries and regions, from the previous 30 days to a maximum stay of 60 days per visit. The latest statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand show that as of early September this year, the number of foreign tourists visiting Thailand has exceeded 23 million, and it is expected that the number of foreign tourists for the whole year will exceed 35 million. In August of this year, the National Bank of Cambodia launched a new QR code payment system specifically designed for foreign tourists - the "Bakong Traveler" mobile application, which allows foreign tourists to make QR code payments at over 3 million shops in the country. Laos has increased its investment efforts in tourism infrastructure, improving tourism supporting facilities such as roads, hotels, and restaurants in tourist destinations such as Luang Prabang and Wanrong, in order to attract foreign tourists to visit and stay. The Malaysian Ministry of Transport plans to develop a "Malaysia Cruise Tourism Roadmap" and strengthen cruise infrastructure construction, vigorously developing cruise tourism. ASEAN countries are continuously increasing their investment in emerging industries such as the digital economy. Currently, Singapore has over 1.4 gigawatts of data center capacity, with over 70 cloud, enterprise, and hosted data centers. The Singapore Information, Communication and Media Development Authority launched a green data center roadmap in May, aimed at accelerating the use of green energy in data centers and promoting the sustainable development of local data centers. Malaysia strives to expand the scale of the digital economy. Google, Amazon, ByteDance and other companies have invested in setting up data centers in Malaysia. According to statistics, from 2021 to 2023, the country has approved a total investment of 114.7 billion ringgit (approximately 0.6 ringgit) in data centers and cloud services. Malaysia's Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Zahir, stated that Malaysia will fully tap into the potential brought by digital transformation to provide assistance for achieving digital innovation, sustainable development and economic growth. China ASEAN pragmatic cooperation continues to strengthen. In late August, the first batch of 15 tons of fresh durian fruit from Malaysia was shipped from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. Subsequently, the second and third batches of durian will also be shipped to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanning and other places respectively. Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Mohammad Sabu, encouraged durian growers to expand their planting areas and export more high-quality durians to the Chinese market. In recent years, economic and trade exchanges between China and ASEAN have become increasingly close. According to data recently released by the General Administration of Customs of China, ASEAN remained China's largest trading partner in the first eight months of this year, with a total import and export value of RMB 4.5 trillion from China to ASEAN, a year-on-year increase of 10%. Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia are China's top three trading partners in ASEAN. According to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, China has maintained its position as the largest trading partner of ASEAN for 15 consecutive years, and ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for 4 consecutive years. ASEAN countries are generally optimistic about China's development opportunities, focusing on expanding exports to China, attracting Chinese investment, and welcoming Chinese tourists. Thailand actively attracts Chinese new energy vehicle companies to settle in, and currently there are 7 Chinese car companies investing and setting up factories in Thailand. On July 17th, as the first production base of GAC Group in ASEAN, the GAC Aion Thailand intelligent factory was completed, and the first "Chinese standard, Thai made" new energy vehicle was simultaneously launched. Secretary General of the Investment Promotion Commission of Thailand, Nali, stated that GAC Aion only took 10 months from making the decision to layout in Thailand to building a smart factory, demonstrating the strength of China's intelligent manufacturing to the Thai side. In the field of digital economy, cooperation between China and ASEAN countries continues to deepen. In early August, at the China Mobile Southeast Asia Regional Cooperation Conference, China Mobile joined hands with partners from Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and other countries to jointly launch the "Initiative for Building a New Digital Economy Base in Southeast Asia", promoting the interconnection of digital infrastructure in Southeast Asia. China Mobile has also signed strategic cooperation memorandums with the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Indonesian mobile phone operators to better achieve coordinated development. The 2024 China ASEAN Economic and Trade Cooperation Report recently released by the RCEP Industrial Cooperation Committee believes that since the implementation of regional opening-up in RCEP more than two years ago, China ASEAN economic and trade cooperation has shown a closer, more active, comprehensive, and in-depth development situation. Strengthening communication on industrial planning, coordinating industrial policies, and constructing industrial parks is becoming an effective measure for both sides to consolidate and develop the industrial chain, enhance its resilience, and achieve industrial upgrading. Both sides are further optimizing their trade structure by developing trade and attracting various production factors to accelerate their flow within the region. The cooperation between the two sides in areas such as infrastructure construction, transportation, customs clearance, and economic corridors is providing increasingly favorable conditions for regional economic integration. (New Society)
Edit：Yi Jing Responsible editor：Li Nian
Source：people.com.cn
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