The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Vision 2020, adopted in December 1997, envisaged “a stable, prosperous and highly competitive ASEAN economic region in which there is a free flow of goods, services, investment and freer flow of capital, equitable economic development and reduced poverty and socioeconomic disparities” by the year 2020. To realize this, at the Ninth ASEAN Summit in October 2003, the ASEAN leaders signed the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II aiming at an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as end goal of its economic integration. Later, the deadline was brought forward to 2015.
ASEAN achieved a major milestone at the November 2007 ASEAN Summit in Singapore, when the leaders adopted the AEC Blueprint. The AEC Blueprint laid out a roadmap to accelerate economic integration and included action plans, targets and timelines to facilitate the process. It was a binding set of commitments by all Member Countries. The Blueprint is organized along the AEC’s four main characteristics: i) a single market and production base; ii) a highly competitive economic region; iii) a region of equitable economic development; and iv) a region that is fully integrated into the global economy.
In view of the accelerated target date, the AEC and its Blueprint look ambitious. There is much to be done to achieve this goal. A single market and production base means a larger production and market place. This requires the removal of trade barriers. While tariffs on intra-ASEAN trade have been largely eliminated, there still exist many non-tariff barriers. To achieve a competitive economic region, there has to be a comprehensive and effective competition policy. The member countries also have to ensure the effectivenesss of its infrastructure for integrating the regional economy. ASEAN is still grappling with the issue of the development divide, especially since the admission of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV). The CLMV countries need to catch up with the ASEAN-6, so that they can effectively participate in the AEC. Finally, the member countries need to encourage small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to play their role in and benefit from the attainment of AEC objectives.
All this requires cooperation and coordination among different sectors of the economy. Each member country has to ensure that it does not lag far behind the others. The governments of the ten countries need to take steps to sustain domestic reform so as to comply with their ASEAN commitments on time.
In this light, the objectives of the Roundtable are to examine the state of readiness (or lack thereof) of the member countries for regional integration and to determine the progress of each of them with regard to the four characteristics of the AEC. The Roundtable will also seek to define the national-level challenges that need to be addressed if ASEAN is to achieve an efficient economic community by 2015.
In order to discuss and address these issues, the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), along with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), will convene the ASEAN Roundtable 2010 on 29 April, 2010 at Singapore. We envisage three separate sessions.
The attendees will involve personalities from government, academia, and international financial institutions. The one-day discussion will be of special significance not only to ASEAN Member Countries but also to the ASEAN Secretariat and other countries interested in economic developments in ASEAN. Policy makers will benefit from the recommendations.
All the papers will be compiled subsequently to be published as a monograph by ISEAS.