Prime Minister Hun Sen welcomed and supported the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Club (AEC), aimed at providing access to ASEAN and serving as a bridge between institutions.

The premier offered his support during a meeting with Michael Yeoh, president of the Malaysia-based KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific, on September 8 at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.

Hun Sen’s personal assistant Eang Sophalleth told reporters that Yeoh was in Cambodia seeking support for launching the AEC, which he said would contribute input into ASEAN financial strategies and assist with communications.

Yeoh had also sought the support of Hun Sen for an initiative to establish an economic green zone and a development foundation in Cambodia. The foundation would develop human resources, particularly in the fields of IT and artificial intelligence.

“We welcomed the launch of an AEC, and recommended that the club also contribute to providing input to ASEAN as well as disseminating the results of ASEAN’s work,” he added.

Sophalleth said Hun Sen supported the initiatives of establishing a development foundation and an economic green zone, noting that the premier himself had proposed an ASEAN Green Deal at the recent 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) in Phnom Penh.

Yeoh also expressed his admiration of Hun Sen for his success in chairing ASEAN this year and for bringing about comprehensive peace and stability that Cambodia enjoys today. These are factors that will attract investment, further progressing the Kingdom’s development, he said.

Thong Mengdavid, a research fellow at the Asian Vision Institute’s Mekong Centre for Strategic Studies, told The Post that the establishment of the aforementioned economic club would provide common benefits for all ASEAN members.

“The club is a measure which will urge closer economic integration through high-level ASEAN economic forums to promote research. It will make political requests and recommendations to the heads of the bloc, their ministers of economies and their secretariats. The AEC will hold regional-level roundtable forums to discuss missions, investments and policies,” he said.