Asean must strengthen its legal certainty and dispute settlement mechanisms to sustain business confidence as the region advances towards becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030, secretary-general Kao Kim Hourn said today.

He noted that Asean’s economic integration has propelled the region to become the world’s fifth-largest economy, with projections indicating its gross domestic product (GDP) to reach about US$4.5 trillion by the end of the decade.