These zones are a proposed new class of special eco-friendly business areas, to transform the bloc into an attractive and dynamic trade and investment hub run by cleaner and greener energy solutions.

Supporting the idea of ‘green economic or investment zones’ in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen recently said his country is ready to host the first of its kind hub. He said this at the opening ceremony of the second day of the 2022 ASEAN Leadership and Partnership Forum in Phnom Penh.

The prime minister also backed the establishment of the Cambodia Economic Development Fund, which he said would support digital transformation, spur development in the artificial intelligence landscape, and provide the country’s workers with the necessary skills and tools to adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Held on September 11-12 under the theme ‘Partnership for Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN’, the forum was jointly organised by Malaysian think tank KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council—the bloc’s apex private sector body—as well as the local Asian Vision Institute (AVI) and the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce.

Hun Sen said he had proposed establishing the ‘ASEAN Green Deal’ initiative at the recent 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which would allow the bloc to gradually transition into a sustainable and resilient community that effectively uses resources.

He had suggested that the climate change mitigation-oriented deal cover a wide range of areas such as infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, consumption, agriculture, transport, environment and finance, with technology, innovation and circularity being the enabling factors.

Hun Sen also announced the launch of the ASEAN Economic Club, which he said would make ASEAN economic integration work more cohesive by improving monitoring, evaluation and advisory capacity regarding multilateral, bilateral and regional agreements and other pertinent economic deals, while ensuring independence and professionalism, according to media reports from Cambodia.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)