ASEAN Economic Community Calls For Seamless Implementation

By Ainul Huda Mohd Saaid KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 (Bernama) -- Much has been said about the proposed ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and its benefits to the region and its people. When realised the AEC is to emerge as the seventh largest economy in the world, with a combined gross domestic product reaching US$4 trillion (RM14.3 trillion) by 2020. The AEC will also represent 125 million households with an income of over US$7,500 (RM26,826), and opens the avenue for people of the member states to enhance their livelihood and enjoy comparable living standards. While economist and leaders pain a rosy picture on AEC, making the economic integration a reality is no easy task. THE HISTORY OF AEC The AEC was officially declared as the goal of regional economic integration by the ASEAN leaders during the Bali Summit in October 2003. The objective is to transform ASEAN into a region that enjoys free flow of goods, services, investment, skilled labour, and free flow of capital. The original dateline was set at year 2020 but looking at the benefits it was agreed during the 2007 ASEAN Summit in Cebu, the Philippines the integration be fast tracked to 2015. It was reported that the AEC blueprint have achieved 82.1 per cent of the stipulated targets. A DYNAMIC PROCESS "The AEC is a dynamic process, meaning that ASEAN will continue to pursue the economic integration platform with new initiatives to further promote economic cooperation in the region with newer datelines for achievement," said the Deputy Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Institute Dr Azmi Mat Akhir. He said the dateline is achievable as long as ASEAN governments ensure that all barriers (tariff and non-tariff) to liberalise trade in their respective countries is reduced to the minimum, if not totally abolished. The Universiti Malaya Senior Research Fellow also pointed out that as the current ASEAN Chairman, Malaysia should assists this process by making sure that Member States adhere to their respective commitments, in realising and sustaining the AEC goals, at least during Malaysia's tenure as the ASEAN chair. A STRATEGIC VENTURE Meanwhile, Lead Researcher of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) Sanchita Basu Das said AEC has to be seen not just as an economic venture but also as a strategic venture that would benefit the region in many fronts. "The AEC outcome should not be seen solely in terms of its objective of a single market and whether it can be a game changer for key economic stakeholders currently present in the region. "Rather, the AEC should be viewed also as a strategic project that attracts more FDI (foreign direct investment), help member countries to participate in global supply chains, and strengthen member countries' bargaining power in international economic, financial and strategic matters," she explained. Sanchita added that all these together were expected to help ASEAN become a hub in the bigger economic space of Asia, contributing to its objective of maintaining centrality. Her detailed opinion could be read in the article entitled "The ASEAN Economic Community: An Economic and Strategic Project" published in the ISEAS website. NOT EXPECTING A 100 PER CENT INTEGRATION According to Ministry of International Trade and Industry's senior director for ASEAN Economic Cooperation Division P. Ravindran, the ASEAN member states were targeting to complete 95 per cent of the integration measures by the end of 2015. "Ninety five per cent should mark a great achievement as nowhere in the world is there 100 per cent economic integration," he said. -- BERNAMA