ASEAN summit approves e-commerce agreement and advances negotiations on trade in services

The summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) took place in Singapore under the theme “Resilient and Innovative.” The regional bloc comprises 10 Southeast countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The highlights of the meeting were the negotiations on a new ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA), designed to help achieving “free flow of trade in services within the region” and the signature of the ASEAN Agreement on e-commerce.  Taken together, the approval of ATISA, the amendment to the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) form a complete trio of modern and comprehensive ASEAN agreements, according to the bloc’s Economic Ministers”.