Remarks by the President of the Italy-ASEAN Association during the events organized by Confindustria and SACE, held as part of the Asian Development Bank’s Annual Meeting in Milan
“Italy and Italian companies can expect to play a very important role in ASEAN,” declared Ambassador Michelangelo Pipan, President of the Italy-ASEAN Association, during the event “The Potential of the Italian Industry for Development Projects in the ASEAN Countries,” organized on Tuesday, May 6 by Confindustria as part of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Annual Meeting held in Milan. “The opportunity is real and ready to be seized, especially today, at a time when the world is facing an unprecedented situation. The foundations of the international economic order have been shaken, if not outright overturned; global trade is threatened by serious geo-economic fragmentation; supply chains must be reorganized, while climate change remains a challenge that can only be addressed through joint efforts – now harder than ever to achieve,” Pipan explained during the panel titled “Development Cooperation in ASEAN Countries: Projects and Instruments.” According to the President of the Italy-ASEAN Association, “States will need to reshape their policies, seeking new partners, diversifying sources of raw materials and investment goods, and identifying new markets for their exports. In this process, they will look for like-minded partners. They will want to avoid excessive dependence on single partners. ASEAN, in particular, is a staunch supporter of multilateralism and free trade; it has a long tradition of refusing to take sides between the two superpowers – China and the United States – which are also its main economic partners. So far, ASEAN has performed a remarkable and efficient balancing act.” As Ambassador Pipan explained, “Following the recent tariff chaos, it is very likely that new ‘constellations’ of economic partnership will emerge: ASEAN has traditionally been very active in this direction, seeking broader trade perspectives, the most emblematic example being the central role it played in supporting the RCEP treaty, which came into force in 2022 and eliminated 90% of tariffs among 15 countries representing 30% of global GDP.”
In the context of a likely and significant increase in economic relations between the EU and ASEAN, Pipan emphasized that “Italy and its companies are well positioned: our skills are well known, highly appreciated, and align well with ASEAN’s development priorities. To name a few areas in line with ASEAN’s Post-2025 planning: renewable energy, industrial automation, infrastructure, development of the health sector – including medical equipment – space and high technology.”
On the same day, Tuesday, May 6, the President of the Italy-ASEAN Association also delivered a keynote address at the event “SACE’s Growth Effect: Expanding Borders, Building the Future,” organized by the Italian financial and insurance group. Speaking immediately after Riccardo Barbieri, Director General of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, he highlighted the role of the HIGH LEVEL DIALOGUE on ASEAN-ITALY ECONOMIC RELATIONS, the annual event organized by the Italy-ASEAN Association together with The European House – Ambrosetti in a capital of an ASEAN country, which this year will be held in Vietnam. Ambassador Pipan noted that “it is the Government that must lead, and we were very pleased to see that in the recent Export Action Plan published by MAECI, ASEAN has been included among the priorities (with particular focus on Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia), and will benefit from new and more powerful tools – including those from SACE – for export promotion.” According to the President of the Association, “ASEAN countries have every reason to seek partnerships with Italian companies. Ultimately, however, it is the interest of the business community that really matters in making all the ingredients blend into success! And it is precisely on this last point that greater efforts are needed: to help raise awareness of ASEAN in Italy. In this context, we have recently proposed to MAECI to co-organize an international conference titled ASEAN AWARENESS, following the model of two similar initiatives held in the 2010s,” Pipan concluded.
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