(VOVworld) – 10 economic ministers from ASEAN member countries and the economic ministers of Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia, and the US gathered at the 3^rd East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday. The Vietnamese delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu (2nd, R) and ASEAN General-Secretary Le Luong Minh (1st, R) at the 3rd East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday (Photo: Vietnamplus)

During the meeting, the ministers discussed new regional and global economic developments, including the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community by the end of the year. They also exchanged ideas on key issues as stated in a research conducted by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, the Comprehensive Asia Development Plan 2.0, and collaboration with the UN Conference on Trade and Development, in a bid to improve the database on non-tariff measures for ASEAN.
According to ASEAN’s statistics, the total GDP of EAS participating countries increased to 42 trillion USD in 2014, from 40.5 trillion USD in 2013. Trade between ASEAN and other EAS participating countries reached 1.1 trillion USD.