Programme

Program

TENTATIVE PROGRAMME
24 November 2021
Cambodia Time (GMT+7) | Virtual Format

TimeProgramme
8:00 - 9:00Registration
9:00 - 10:00Opening Session
• Welcome Remarks by H.E. Mr. PAN Sorasak, Minister of Commerce of Cambodia;
• Remarks by
• Hon. FDr. Ar. Siti Rozaimeriyanty DSLJ Haji Abdul Rahman, ASEAN Business Advisory Council Chair 2021, Brunei;
• Neak Oknha KITH Meng, Chairman of Cambodia Chamber of Commerce;
• Ms. Luisa Santos, Deputy Director General of BusinessEurope;
• H.E. Mr. Csaba Őry, Ambassador of Hungary Accredited to the Kingdom of Cambodia;
• Opening Remarks by Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia

10:00 - 10:15Health Break
10:05 - 10:25Presentation 1
WTO’s multilateralism: Asia and Europe’s contribution

a) Connecting Asia and Europe under framework of a multilateral agreement to promote economic partnership
b) Fostering sustainable trade and investment between the two regions
c) Supporting WTO Institutional efficiency practices
d) Managing economic risk through rising external issues

Proposed Presenter:
• Ms. Anabel Gonzalez, Deputy Director-General of WTO;

10:25 - 10:40Presentation 2
Connecting Europe and Asia to work inclusively on innovation and invention to promote growth

Presenter:
• H.E. Mr. SOK Chenda Sophea, Minister attached to the Prime Minister and Secretary General of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC);

10:40 - 10:55Presentation Session by Youth Representative Economic Diplomacy between Asia and Europe: An Engine of Growth and Prosperity

e) Economic diplomacy is an essential tool to revitalise the spirit of multilateralism and ensure mutually beneficial cooperation amid uncertainties, especially in the post-COVID-19 recovery phase.
f) Economic diplomacy should be carried out in a pragmatic and mutually beneficial manner, and to avoid being overly political.
g) Being long-standing partners, and building on growing bilateral FTAs conclusion, ASEAN and the EU should relaunch the negotiation of ASEAN-EU FTA.
h) Innovation and digitalisation are at the heart of modern diplomacy, which will induce sustainable and inclusive growth.

Proposed Presenter:
• Mr. VUTHY Vongmonasekar, Navigator for ASEFYLS4 Leadership in Action Project on Economic Diplomacy and Junior Diplomat at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Cambodia;

• Ms. Virág KEMECSEI, Research Student at Waseda University;
11:00 - 12:00 (Q&A 15mn)Panel discussion 1:
The Resilient 4th IR for Asian and European Trade Synchronicity amidst Global Pandemic

In the post-COVID-19 epoch, which presents new growth opportunities as well as strong challenges alike for global trade and investment, promoting trade environment synchronicity between Asia and Europe via optimization of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) would be placed among the top priorities for policy makers and business executives. What should businesses and policy makers, therefore, prioritize as the new industrial revolution continues to take shape? How can start-up businesses and MSMEs take advantage of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) now that the New Normal has pushed online connectivity into the forefront of communication?
i) Increasing need for web-based connectivity due to COVID-19
j) Internet of Things (IOT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) becoming essential as the new trend for development

Moderator (1):
1. H.E. Mr. PENN Sovicheat, Undersecretary of State of Ministry of Commerce;

Speakers (5):
1. H.E. Dr. CHEA Vandeth, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of Cambodia;
2. Ms. Tuuli Pärenson Chief Executive Officer, Gofore Estonia;
3. Dr. Norbert CSIZMADIA,President of the Board of Directors at Pallas Athene Geopolitical Foundation;
4. Prof. Hidetoshi Nishimura, President of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia;
5. H.E. Mr. Oleg NERETIN, Director of the Federal Institute of Industrial Property of the Russian Federation;

12:00 – 13:30Health Break
13:30 - 14:30 (Q&A 15mn)Panel Discussion 2:
Expediting Economic Recovery in the New Normal and 4IR: Inclusive Multilateralism and Digitalization

Why Multilateralism and Free Trade Agreements are still relevant in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR)? How can multilateralism and FTAs improve trades relations in the post-COVID-19?
a) Trade liberalization (Tariff and Non-tariff)
b) Business environment and openness to FDI
c) Trade support institutions
d) Enhance the connectivity of MSMEs in the digital market
e) MSMEs and Free Trade Agreements

Moderator (1):
1. Mr. BRINZER Tassilo, Chairman of EuroCham, Cambodia;

Speakers (5):
1. H.E. Mr. Yu Benlin, Director General of Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs, Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China;
2. Mr. CORBIN Francois, MEDEF International Vice-President & President of the ASEAN Committee of MEDEF;
3. Mr. Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono,Director General for International Trade Negotiation of the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia;
4. Dr. Deborah Elms, Executive Director, Asian Trade Centre;
5. Mr. Donald Kanak, Chairman of the EU-ASEAN Business Council;
14:30 - 15:30
(Q&A 15mn)
Panel Discussion 3, with Bruegel, a Brussels-based economics think-tank Advancing Global Value and Supply Chain to Mitigate the Challenges Arising from the Current Pandemic

The future of global value chains is key for Asia: What to expect?

There are a number of reasons why global value chains are being reshuffled.
From increasing labor costs to environmental shocks, technological progress but also geopolitics, all seem to
be good reasons to rethink the location and functioning of global value chains. One key issue is China’s central role in the global but, especially, Asia value chain. Efforts to reshuffle away from China for critical components of the value chain, whether it is the US, the EU or Japan, could have a negative impact on Asia if such efforts
account to re-shoring back to their home economies, but perhaps investors may prefer to nearshore in other
geographies in Asia either to reduce costs and/or to better control the supply chain and avoid geopolitical risk. Technological progress is also very important when determining the future geographical composition of global value chain as well as the degree of vertical integration, the more so in countries pursuing more self-reliance as is clearly the case of China but also India.

a) Has the Covid pandemic changed the geographical patterns of supply chains in Asia
b) How much more is expected and what are the main drivers?
c) How an Asia ensure that a regional supply chain continues to develop and how to foster its resilience?
d) How to minimize geopolitical risks?

Moderator (1):
1. André Sapir, Senior Fellow at Bruegel;

Speakers (5):
1. Ms. Carmen Cano, Deputy Director General for South and East Asia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Spain, former Head of the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macao;
2. Ms. Alicia Garcia Herrero, Senior Fellow at Bruegel, Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis and non-resident Research Fellow at Real Instituto Elcano;
3. Mr. Luca Silipo, Corporate Sustainability Transitions, Sustainable Investment, EU Taxonomy at GEODIS, logistics and supply chain company;
4. Mr. Jong Woo Kang, Principal Economist, Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, ADB;
5. Mr. Tetsuya Watanabe, Vice President of RIETI and Visiting Professor at the University of Tokyo;

15:30 - 15:35Health Break
15:35 - 16:10Closing Session
• Remarks by H.E. Mr. Franck Riester, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France;
• Remarks by H.E. Mr. Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC);
• Closing Remarks by H.E. Dr. AUN Pornmoniroth, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Finance of Cambodia.

Note:  Concept Note and Programme are attached here.