SINGAPORE – Asean must become a more seamless and competitive single market, one that attracts businesses and investments looking for alternatives in a more fragmented global economy.

To get there, bolder reforms are needed, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in a video message posted on YouTube on July 5, adding that the association’s 10 nations may be limited in scale individually but together have considerable weight.

Asean today has 700 million people and it forms the fifth largest economy in the world, and is projected to be the fourth largest by 2030.

The next decade will be critical to unlock its full potential, said PM Wong, who has just finished his introductory visits to Asean’s capitals, with the exception of Myanmar, which he said he hopes to visit “when the situation is more conducive”.

PM Wong said: “Continued peace, stability and growth in Asean will transform our entire region – and this will translate to better jobs, opportunities and living standards for all our peoples.”

The key to achieving this lies in closer integration amongst Asean economies. 

PM Wong noted that supply chains across the bloc already span multiple countries, leveraging their complementary strengths.

He gave the example of cotton from the Philippines. This could be spun in Thai factories, dyed and sewn in Vietnam and exported to the world. 

“This is the kind of cooperation we must strengthen,” he said.

To become a more seamless and competitive single market, Asean needs to reduce trade and investment barriers and make it easier for companies to operate across borders, PM Wong said. 

It also means negotiating a digital economy agreement across the bloc, and linking payment systems Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have done, he added.

The seven other countries in the bloc are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Phi...