SAMENTA Urges ASEAN To Deepen Intra-Regional Trade Through Collaboration

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- The Small and Medium Enterprises Association Malaysia (SAMENTA) has urged ASEAN leaders to deepen intra-ASEAN trade through collaboration rather than competition, noting that trade within the bloc remained around 20 per cent for more than a decade.

In a statement today, SAMENTA national president Datuk William Ng said the issue is not only tariffs or non-tariff barriers but also the fact that the region’s supply chains are designed for markets outside ASEAN, not within.

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“Malaysia, as this year’s chair, should take the lead in reframing ASEAN’s economic priorities, shifting from protecting national markets to building regional industries and shared prosperity,” he said.

Ng added that ASEAN’s digital economy initiatives, such as cross-border payment systems and the upcoming Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), must be designed to include the region’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“A regional digital ecosystem that includes interoperable e-commerce platforms, shared cybersecurity standards, and simplified data flows will allow MSMEs to innovate, collaborate, and compete effectively.

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“Creative industries, many of which are led by small and women entrepreneurs, should also be recognised as part of this regional value chain, supported by intellectual property protection, talent mobility, and cross-border creative clusters,” he said.

SAMENTA also called on ASEAN to shift focus from individual national key performance indicators (KPIs), such as export numbers or domestic industrial output, to regional performance indicators that measure how well the bloc’s economies complement each other.

“A regional supply chain perspective will encourage member states to specialise based on comparative strengths and collaborate for collective competitiveness, rather than compete for the same investments and markets.

“A more inclusive measurement would be one on our collective growth as an economic bloc, informal as it may be, which could then form the basis of discussions at the leaders’ level to accelerate the transformation of ASEAN into a cohesive economic grouping,” it said.

In addition, SAMENTA said ASEAN must help its MSMEs move beyond being suppliers or original equipment manufacturers to become brand owners and value creators within the region and beyond.

Ng said that such measures will help ASEAN achieve long-term competitiveness and resilience, especially as larger economies around us continue to scale and consolidate.

“If ASEAN is serious about growing intra-regional trade, we must go beyond the narrative of ‘removing barriers’ and instead focus on actively building bridges between our businesses,” he added.

-- BERNAMA