Building Regional Strength Through Smarter Fiscal and Trade Policies
On 18 November, AMCHAM’s Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Siobhan Das, joined thought leaders for the Financial Times’ high-level briefing, Building Regional Strength Through Smarter Fiscal and Trade Policies, organized in collaboration with Philip Morris International and AMCHAM. The program brought together policymakers, business leaders, and fiscal experts to explore how modern taxation, cross-border cooperation, and innovative policy frameworks can strengthen ASEAN’s economic resilience and competitiveness.
Moderated by Alex Irwin-Hunt, Global Markets Editor at FDI Intelligence, the panel also featured Veerinderjeet Singh, Senior Advisor on Tax Policy at KPMG Malaysia, and Mohammed Abdul Khalid, Research Fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies. Discussions focused on fostering deeper fiscal and trade alignment across ASEAN, addressing illicit trade, and finding balanced approaches between policy innovation and revenue protection.
Participants emphasized that despite established forums like the ASEAN Forum on Taxation, progress toward harmonized action remains limited. Greater regional policy alignment—particularly in taxation, trade regulation, and customs modernization—was identified as essential to unlock intra-ASEAN growth and support integrated markets.
Dato’ Siobhan highlighted the crucial role of chambers of commerce, including AMCHAM, in facilitating cross-sector dialogue and testing policy innovations. She underscored that businesses must work closely with governments and civil society to advance practical solutions that strengthen resilience and diversify markets. Drawing from Malaysia’s experience, Dato’ Siobhan expressed the opportunity for Malaysia and ASEAN to lean into being at the forefront of global integration.
AMCHAM Malaysia extends its appreciation to the Financial Times and Philip Morris International for organizing this timely and substantive discussion, and for the opportunity to contribute to shaping smarter fiscal and trade policies for a stronger and more unified ASEAN.
