DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong is attending a meeting of Asean finance ministers and central bank governors in Luang Prabang in Laos.

The two-day meeting ending on Friday (Apr 5) will discuss ways to enhance the bloc’s monetary and financial cooperation and integration, towards the implementation of the Asean Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and beyond.

This masterplan guides the establishment of the Asean Economic Community, which envisions the 10-member bloc as a single market and product base, a highly competitive region with equitable economic development, and fully integrated into the global economy.

The state of global and regional economies will also be discussed at the meeting in Laos, this year’s Asean chair.

Since it formally joined the regional alliance in 1997, Laos has helmed the role twice – once in 2004 and again in 2016.

Wong will be accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Monetary Authority of Singapore for this visit. He attended last year’s two meetings in Jakarta and Bali, as well as 2022’s virtual meeting chaired by Cambodia.

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Other regional finance chiefs reported to be present at the 28th Asean Finance Ministers’ Meeting and the 11th Asean Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting include Vietnam’s Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc and Malaysia’s Second Finance Minister Amir Hamzah Azizan.