Officials at an online meeting held in Ha Noi in preparation for the upcoming 37th ASEAN Summit. — VNA Photo

The ASEAN Economic Community Council is working on a comprehensive strategy to develop the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) with a vision to 2025.

The strategy focuses on improving the region's economic integration, competitive capacity, inter-regional co-operation with an emphasis on human resources developments and more robust global integration, heard the 19th ASEAN Economic Community Council Meeting, which was held online yesterday.

The meeting set the agenda for the upcoming 37th ASEAN Summit, slated for November 12-15, which will review the development process of the AEC. This is part of an initiative by Viet Nam, ASEAN's Chair for 2020, to allow countries an opportunity to submit and study additional recommendations for the building of the AEC.

According to a report by ASEAN, by the end of the second quarter of 2020, the bloc had implemented more than 84 per cent of all AEC-building recommendations for 2021-25.

At the summit, regional leaders will review top priorities and solutions put ahead by Viet Nam including the development of a regional integration index, a comprehensive strategy for the development of AEC by 2025, improvements to financial sustainability in the region, cross-border retail and transaction regulations and a common food security strategy for 2021-25.

Countries will discuss the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to the region's production, commercial and investment activities as well as solutions to maintain and recover ASEAN economies and supply chains in co-operation with the bloc's partners such as China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN +3).

Notably, ministers were expected to ratify a memorandum on non-tariff barriers to trade for vital commodities in response to the pandemic, another initiative by Viet Nam to minimise the damage of COVID-19 to the region. — VNS