Acting Permanent Secretary (Economy, Trade and Industry) at the Ministry of Finance and Economy emphasised the importance of adopting a firm and pragmatic approach to advancing the Consumer Protection agenda within ASEAN.
In his address to delegates of the 28th Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Consumer Protection (ACCP) and related meetings, Mohammad Harris Brigadier General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Haji Ibrahim stressed the need to strategise the way forward post-2025, to ensure that consumers are more empowered with increased rights to safety and choice, as well as provided with accurate information to make informed decisions and be given the right to be heard.
He acknowledged that the ACCP has made significant progress over the years in implementing the ASEAN Strategic Action Plan for Consumer Protection (ASAPCP) 2025.
Noteworthy achievements include the development of frameworks for cross-border cooperation, consumer empowerment, capacity capacity-building activities with increased engagement from development partners, and more recently, the Report on Dispute Resolution in ASEAN and the Guidelines on Consumer Impact Assessment.
Despite these achievements, he stressed the importance of ACCP being more adaptive and innovative given the ever-evolving landscape of digitalisation and cross-border transactions.
He also extended his gratitude to the Assistant Chief Executive of the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS), who is the Chair of the ACCP Loke Shiu Meng, for his dedication and valuable contributions in leading the meeting towards making significant milestones in advancing consumer protection across the
ASEAN region.
Similar appreciation was given to the ACCP dialogue partners for their support to helping ACCP grow through the continuous implementation of consumer protection activities under the ASEAN-UK Economic Integration Program, AANZFTA Consumer Affairs Program and the GIZ PROTECT 2.
The Acting Permanent Secretary encouraged everyone to give support and actively participate in meaningful discussions to explore innovative actions to advance a fair consumer environment across the ASEAN region.
It is hoped that delegates will have a productive and meaningful meeting here in Brunei Darussalam and will be able to achieve several deliverables by the end of the Meeting, including a fruitful brainstorming discussion for the post-2025 Consumer Protection Action Plan.
The session was attended by senior officials from ASEAN member states’ consumer protection agencies, along with representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat, Timor-Leste as observers, and ACCP’s development partners.
THE BRUNEIAN | BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
