IN order to succeed in an integrated market, Asean countries must focus on areas where they have a natural competitive advantage, said Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Idris Jala, at the Asean Conference on Wednesday.

"Specialisation within Asean is key," he said. "As we go from being heavily commodity driven ... we need to move beyond and diversify."

Held at the Raffles City Convention Centre, the conference heard speakers give their opinions on how businesses can adapt and thrive in the soon-to-be-implemented Asean Economic Community (AEC).