Riccardo Benussi Speaks in Estonia at the Big in Asia Conference 2022

Dezan Shira & Associates’ Director of Europe, Riccardo Benussi, attended and spoke at Estonia-Asia Trade Agency’s Big in Asia Conference 2022 in Tallinn, Estonia.

The Conference, held on December 8, 2022, was a day-long event bringing together experts on doing business in Japan, South Korea and South/Southeast Asia to discuss global trends in trade and opportunities in the region. There were also workshops for attendees to help them create roadmaps to success.

In an early morning presentation, Riccardo touched on what businesses should know in order to seize opportunities in Asia. He later returned to the stage as a panelist in the workshop focused on Singaporean and Southeast Asian opportunities.

EU Trade with ASEAN

The EU was the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) third largest trading partner in 2021, while serving as the second largest provider of foreign direct investment (FDI). In 2021, ASEAN received 17.3% of its FDI from the EU, surpassed only by the U.S. which accounted for 26.1%

EU to ASEAN trade in goods between 2011 and 2021 grew by 56% to reach EUR 215.9 billion. Services, however, saw the largest win – growing 100% between 2011 and 2020 to reach EUR 82.4 billion.

Outside of the EU, ASEAN was also the European Union’s third largest trading partner and trade is projected to only continue growing. The EU and Vietnam for example, recently had a free trade agreement (FTA) come into effect while the EU-Singapore FTA has been in effect since 2019.