KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is ready to take over the Asean chairmanship from Myanmar next year, driven by its strong manufacturing base in the region, said an expert.
The expert, who wants to remain anonymous, said Malaysia was ready because its manufacturing base was one of the strongest in Asean.
"People have been talking about the Asean Economic Community (AEC) implementation rate. For us, we have achieved 80-85 per cent of the measures set out for the integration into the AEC framework," he said this to Bernama on the sidelines of the Malaysia Insurance Summit (MIS) 2014 here today.
The AEC is targeted to be launched at the end of 2015, with the aim of grouping Asean countries into a single market by opening up the capital markets.
He said Malaysia has until November 2015 to meet the targeted rate.
"By then we expect to achieve up to 97 per cent implementation rate, taking into consideration the liberalisation of services sector which require some time due to certain rules and regulations," he said.
Meanwhile, a source said the AEC was very important for Malaysia.
He said many Malaysian companies had moved out to other Asean countries and this has not only boosted earnings for the nation but also created jobs.
The two-day MIS 2014, which started yesterday, gathers market leaders and insurance professionals to discuss issues, challenges and exchange views concerning both local and global insurance markets.
The summit, themed 'Today's Vision, Tomorrow's Reality', attracted 150 local and international insurance professionals.-- Bernama