ASEAN Trade With US Hits USD 453 Billion -- Malaysian Official

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 (KUNA) -- Malaysian Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Aziz declared on Wednesday that total trade between member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States of America hit a record level of USD 453 billion in 2024.
Addressing the inaugural session of consultations between ASEAN ministers of economy with the US trade envoy in Kuala Lumpur, Jamieson Greer, held in the Malaysian capital, Zafrul Aziz said ASEAN countries' exports to the US rose to USD 312 billion in 2024, climbing by USD 42 billion compared to 2023.
The US was the number-one exporter of foreign investments to the ASEAN nations, last year, with flows exceeding USD 42 billion, he said, noting that the figures mirrored Washington's confidence in the regional organization's member states and the investment opportunities in the southeastern Asian region.
For his part, ambassador Greer, in an identical statement, affirmed that commerce between the US and the ASEAN countries, populated by more than one billion people, has neared USD half a trillion.
US President Donald Trump, who has particular interest in boosting trade with the regional countries, held last months, fruitful talks with ASEAN ministers of economy to ease flow of exchanged trade, tackle tariffs and barricades and unfair commercial activities, he added.
The current consultations are the first to be held at this level since Washington began enforcing high tariffs reaching 19-20 percent on bulk of southeastern Asian countries, and up to 40 percent on Laos and Myanmar.
The US-ASEAN talks were held under umbrella of the 24th ASEAN Economic Ministers-Ministry of Commerce (AEMMOFCOM) Consultations, hosted by Kuala Lumpur.
ASEAN, founded in 1967, groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and has a population of over 680 million and a combined GDP of about USD 3.4 trillion. (end)
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