The context
Why this conversation, why now
Two thirds of Malaysia's services exports, RM185.6 billion in 2025, were sold to Asian markets. Our services future is regional, yet national productivity initiatives across ASEAN still run largely in isolation, each verifying standards in its own way and measuring gains with its own data.
AIFTIS is a regionally transportable framework that lifts productivity through capacity building, talent development and industry standardisation. Earlier the same afternoon, ALACE and MSPC sign an MOU activating AIFTIS in Vientiane. This dialogue, extended to 90 minutes, uses that precedent to invite ASEAN regulatory, statutory and industry bodies and chambers of commerce to explore adoption in their own countries, and to convert interest into a concrete follow-up commitment from several bodies at once.
66.8%
of Malaysia's services exports went to Asia in 2025
RM185.6bn
value of those services exports
12 months
proposed shared data-collection commitment
Objectives
What this session will set out to do
- 01Invite ASEAN bodies to explore how the AIFTIS platform can be adopted for their own countries.
- 02Discuss how the framework can support each member's current initiatives for industry productivity, verifying industry standards, localisation and commercialisation.
- 03Build on the Lao PDR MOU as a concrete precedent.
- 04Close with a shared 12-month data-collection commitment with invited ASEAN members.
Five Pillars
Where it fits
Trade Connectivity & Market Access
Extending the AIFTIS platform to other ASEAN markets.
Capacity Building & QTVET
Productivity gains through capacity building and talent development.
Malaysian Industry Trust Mark (MITM)
Industry standardisation and verification as a shared regional reference.
Professional Mobility
Common frameworks that allow expertise to move across ASEAN.
Challenges on the table
- National productivity initiatives across ASEAN run largely in isolation, without a shared framework.
- Verifying industry standards and recognising capability differs from country to country.
- There is no common data to measure productivity gains from capacity building across members.
- Interest in regional collaboration rarely converts into concrete, time-bound commitments.
Opportunities to explore
- Use the Lao PDR experience to show other members what adoption looks like in practice.
- Align with national plans already under way, such as Indonesia's 2025-29 National Productivity Master Plan.
- Secure multiple follow-up commitments at once from ASEAN productivity bodies.
- Establish a 12-month data-collection commitment as the first shared regional deliverable.
Outcomes
What it will deliver
- Confirm which ASEAN bodies will take part in a shared 12-month data-collection commitment.
- Map each member's current productivity initiatives against the AIFTIS framework.
- Use the Lao PDR precedent to define a repeatable adoption process.
- Extend the Working Track's reach beyond Malaysia from its first year.
AIFTIS becomes a shared ASEAN platform for productivity, trust and localisation.
Session journey
Where it leads
Builds on
- Opening of AIFTIS 2026
This session
- ASEAN Regulatory & Statutory Bodies Dialogue
Feeds into
Sources for figures on this page: DOSM International Trade in Services 2025.
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