Asean Economic Development And Cooperation

A concise but thorough review of the economics of ASEAN economic integration, with focus on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

The year 2015 has special significance for regional economic integration. The ASEAN Community, integrating the political, economic and social aspects of regional cooperation, will complete its first milestone by December 2015. Expectations of tangible benefits under an ASEAN Economic Community have attracted much attention though many of the initiatives will be realized post-2015.Following the policy of open regionalism, ASEAN has also signed free trade agreements with Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea. It has launched negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement in 2013, with expected breakthrough by end-2015.The Southeast Asian economies are also involved in two other regional initiatives. First is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), initiated by the United States. As part of the U.S. "e;pivot to Asia"e;, the TPP is envisioned as a "e;comprehensive and high-quality"e; agreement and has concluded its negotiation in October 2015. Second, the discussions on regional connectivity have broadened; China has emerged as a recent lead proponent with its proposals for "e;One Belt, One Road"e; and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.All these together have implications not only for individual Southeast Asian countries but also for regional trading architecture. To aid in understanding the beginnings, development, and potential of these grand plans, this collection of 22 essays offers a rich analysis of ASEAN's own economic integration and other related initiatives proliferating in the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Myanmar was admitted to ASEAN in 1997, despite an allegedly poor human rights record. This text discusses the formation and evolution of ASEAN with an overview of the political and economic development of Myanmar. It analyses the political, security and economic impact and implications for Myanmar; key ASEAN agreements are included for reference.

This is an important and timely volume: important because ASEAN is an increasingly significant and influential regional and global actor; and timely because, as the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community target approaches, what is needed is a sympathetic yet arms-length survey of the issues and challenges. ASEAN will miss some of the targets laid out in its AEC Blueprint, but the reader is left in no doubt that the ASEAN spirit is alive and well. The editors include a distinguished former Secretary General of ASEAN and the leading academic analyst of ASEAN economic cooperation. They and their co-editors are to be congratulated for soliciting contributions from an outstanding and diverse group of authors, and then adding their highly authoritative commentary and analysis. A must read for anybody seriously interested in ASEAN.

Volume I of the series on ASEAN-China Relations focused on trends and patterns in bilateral economic relations between ASEAN countries on the one hand, and China on the other. Volume II focused on macroeconomic and institutional developments in China and in selected sectors in ASEAN and China, and their implications for bilateral economic relations. This third volume focuses on developments in the global arena and in the Pacific and their impact on bilateral economic relations between ASEAN and China. The papers cover the following - economic developments in the Pacific region, the economic role of Japan and the United States, industrial restructuring in the Asian Newly Industrializing Economies, the special role of Hong Kong, prospects for Pacific economic cooperation, and China's membership in GATT.

Against the backdrop of significant developments in regional economic cooperation and integration over the past decade, this book presents some of the key challenges facing ASEAN as it embarks on a bold and ambitious project to establish an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. Organized under the auspices of the ASEAN-Australia Development Cooperation Program's Regional Economic Policy Support Facility, the book brings together authoritative studies written by prominent experts and academics on issues pertaining to ASEAN economic integration.