The meeting of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2025 Implementation Committees was held yesterday at the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, Office 1, Nay Pyi Taw. The meeting was led by Dr Wah Wah Maung, Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, and attended by deputy ministers and permanent secretaries who are the Chairs of 22 Working Committees, directors-general and representatives, around 80 participants in total.
In her opening remarks, the Union minister said that Myanmar has an unfaithful relationship in the implementation of ASEAN regional economic cooperation. She emphasized that as this year marks the final year of implementing the AEC 2025 Blueprint, the meeting aims to openly discuss the overall implementation status, Myanmar’s progress and challenges, and to share updates on ASEAN vision 2045 and the upcoming AEC Strategic Plan (2026–2030), as well as to share the outcomes and follow-up actions from ASEAN economic meetings held in September.
Union Minister Dr Wah Wah Maung also emphasized the global geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges and their impacts on ASEAN, including Myanmar. To address these challenges, ASEAN has formed the ASEAN Geoeconomics Task Force (AGTF) to develop policy recommendations, and special ministerial meetings have also been convened to reinforce ASEAN’s commitment to rules-based, multilateral cooperation.
She also explained that the initial implementation of the AEC Blueprint (2016–2025) comprised about 1,700 action lines, which have now expanded to more than 3,800 in response to new and emerging issues such as the COVID pandemic, sustainable development, and green economy. She added that more than 75 per cent of these action lines have been completed, and the goal is to reach 90 per cent by the end of 2025.
Remaining actions will continue beyond 2025. She also encouraged relevant ministries to align national procedures with regional commitments to ensure smooth implementation of AEC-related agreements.
Furthermore, she stressed the importance of ASEAN Vision 2045 and its strategic plans across four pillars — Political-Security, Economic, Socio-Cultural, and Connectivity. The AEC will contribute through four consecutive five-year strategic plans. The AEC Strategic Plan (2026-2030) was endorsed at the 46th ASEAN Summit in May 2025. She also highlighted the need for a future awareness programme with stakeholders on the post-AEC agenda and encouraged sectoral agencies to provide continued support and coordination.
The Union minister urged all ministries to actively participate in AEC implementation to ensure Myanmar keeps pace with other ASEAN countries. She also called for timely reporting of implementation challenges and for stronger inter-ministerial cooperation on cross-cutting issues.
During the meeting, the Union minister shared the detailed updates of ASEAN Vision 2045 and its AEC Strategic Plan (2026-2030) and Dr Marlar Myo Nyunt, Director-General of the Department of Foreign Economic Relations and ASEAN Senior Economic Official, presented the outcomes and follow-up actions of the 57th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings, and the implementation status of AEC 2025.
Afterwards, the Chairs and representatives of the working committees reported on the implementation of the AEC measures and the challenges of the implementation, and their future directions. The Union minister provided guidance on the report of the working committees.
Myanmar has formed 22 sectoral committees to ensure the effective implementation of the AEC blueprint 2025. Each committee is chaired by deputy ministers or permanent secretaries, with directors-general serving as secretaries and relevant departments as members.
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