KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — Asean can become the world’s fourth largest economy by 2050 and it is not an idle fantasy, said Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman today. 

“It is based on an extrapolation of current figures. This is the future that we can start to fashion for our children, here and now. So I say - yes. We can be positive. We should be positive,” he said.

Addressing the opening of the 48^th Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting at the Putra World Trade Centre, here, he said the Asean Community would make the grouping stronger and more economically secure.

It would make Asean more open to trade and outside investment and less vulnerable to global financial volatility, he said.

The minister said investment in the region reached US$136.2 billion (RM517.56 billion) last year, representing a 15.7 per cent year-on-year growth.  “Last year’s trade amounted to US$2.53 trilion — and we are anticipating an even stronger growth rate of 4.9 per cent this year,” said Anifah.

He said the Asean Economic Community blueprint has helped encourage the free flow of goods between member nations and simplified trade.

“We are developing a community of opportunity - one where increased trade and personal growth go hand-in-hand. And all of this before the Community is even fully established,” he said.

Anifah is chairing the one-day meeting attended by his counterparts from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. — Bernama