Mohammad Harris bin Brigadier General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Haji Ibrahim, Acting Permanent Secretary (Economy, Trade and Industry) at the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE), emphasised the importance of a firm and pragmatic approach is vital to advancing the consumer protection agenda within ASEAN. He stressed that the post-2025 strategy also needs to be organised in order to ensure that consumers are more empowered with increased rights to safety and choice, as well as provided with accurate information in order to make informed decisions, and be given the right to be heard.
This matter was highlighted during the Luncheon for delegates attending the 28th Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Consumer Protection (ACCP) and related meetings.
Acting Permanent Secretary (Economy, Trade and Industry) at MoFE, also acknowledged that ACCP has made significant progress in implementing the ASEAN Strategic Action Plan for Consumer Protection 2025. The achievements include the development of frameworks for cross-border cooperation, consumer empowerment, 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.
The delegates were in the country for a four-day meeting.
The meeting was chaired by Mr. Loke Shiu Meng, Assistant Chief Executive of the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore.