On 4 February 2020, H.E. Ambassador Dato’ Dr. Azfar Mohamad Mustafar participated as one of the High Level Panelists during a Seminar on Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India. The closed forum was held in conjunction with the launch of the economic outlook report on the regions.
The forum was chaired by Mr. Mario Pezzini, Director, OECD Development Centre and Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary-general on Development. Other High Level Panelists include H.E. Hyoung Kwon Ko, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the OECD and Co-Chair of the OECD South-East Asia Regional Programme (SEARP), H.E. Kyaw Zeya, Ambassador of Myanmar to France,
Mr. Jean-Louis Ville, Head of East, Southeast Asia and Pacific Unit, DEVCO, European Commission, Mr. Taro Fujii, Counsellor, Permanent Delegation of Japan to the OECD and Ms. Samantha Hung, Deputy Representative, ADB European Representative Office.
The half-day event among others explored the macroeconomic challenges and outlook of the regions, as well the education system for the digital era. Preceded by multifaceted socio economic reports, the discussion then moved to country-specific issues and challenges, such as the strain of education on students, digital trade and other topical issues. The prospect of including the economic impact of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak was also briefly discussed.
H.E. Dato’ Dr. Azfar shared Malaysia’s endeavor in TVET as well as its effort to reduce the skills gap as highlighted by the OECD. Bringing in new flavor to the discussion, Dato’ Dr. Azfar also urged the OECD to take into account the new focus as outlined in the Shared Prosperity Vision. Highlighting the new dynamics and the continuity of functioning policies, he urged the OECD to engage intimately with the relevant agencies in Malaysia in order to produce thorough reporting.
Acknowledging these new inputs, Mr. Pezzini thanked Malaysia for its frank and instructive response towards their earlier presentation. He also instructed the relevant rubric within the OECD to work closely with the right Malaysian agencies.
Overall, the discussion was incisive and instrumental in understanding the different layers of development and economic outlook within the regions. OECD’s effort in better understanding the regional economic architecture is noteworthy and ought to be utilized by Malaysia to better understand and tap into the regional markets.
