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Foreword
- Edited by Daljit Singh, Malcolm Cook
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- Book:
- Southeast Asian Affairs 2017
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 12 January 2018
- Print publication:
- 30 March 2017, pp ix-x
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Summary
It is my pleasure to present the forty-fourth edition of Southeast Asian Affairs. The information and analysis in this forward-looking annual review will be useful for all interested in contemporary developments in Southeast Asia.
On the security front, the election of Donald Trump has deepened questions about the role of the United States in Southeast Asia, while the election of Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines has sharply altered Southeast Asian approaches to the South China Sea disputes. The 12 July arbitral tribunal ruling that comprehensively undercut China's claims in the Spratlys, while precedent-setting for international maritime law, has had little effect on China's assertiveness.
Domestic politics in 2016 again underlined the region's diversity and different political cycles. In Singapore and Indonesia, consolidation and stability featured after recent national elections. In Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Timor-Leste, positioning for upcoming elections took precedence. For the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos, new governments took office.
The regional economic picture was similarly diverse, though all economies were affected by the regional ramifications of longer-term global economic changes. Exports’ contribution to growth continued to weaken, with many Southeast Asian economies suffering from slower GDP growth. Southeast Asia's demographic picture highlights the very different long-term economic challenges facing Southeast Asian countries and their impact on labour migration within the region.
I would like to thank the authors, the editors as well as others who have helped to make this publication possible. The chapters in the volume contain a wide variety of views and perspectives. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute. The authors alone are responsible for the facts and opinions presented in their contributions.
Foreword
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- By Tan Chin Tiong, Director ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore
- Edited by Basu Das Sanchita, Masahiro Kawai
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- Book:
- Trade Regionalism in the Asia-Pacific
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 05 July 2016
- Print publication:
- 11 April 2016, pp vii-viii
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Summary
Masahiro Kawai, Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo and Sanchita Basu Das, Fellow at ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, have brought together a valuable collection of short papers written by leading thinkers on the subject of regional economic cooperation. I congratulate all the authors and editors for their contribution to the current debate on the Asia-Pacific regionalism.
Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have been proliferating in the Asian region in the post-Cold War period, especially after multilateral trade talks led by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) stalled. These RTAs are seen as alternative paths for trade liberalization and cooperation. Southeast Asia countries are strong proponents of this approach. Pushing first for the ASEAN Free Trade Area, and more recently the ASEAN Economic Community, individual ASEAN member countries are also pursing separate Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) among “like-minded” partners across Asia and the Pacific-Rim nations.
Against this backdrop of a growing number of economic cooperation arrangements, governments started to explore options for a consolidated and coherent Asia-Pacific trading architecture. This has led to the development of two mega-regionals, namely the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the former spearheaded by the United States, and the latter by ASEAN. Meanwhile, a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), first discussed in APEC meetings in 2004, has been revitalized after China restarted the discussion again in 2014 at the APEC Leaders’ Meeting that year.
This book volume is a timely contribution to the on-going deliberations on the Asia-Pacific regional cooperation. It provides analytical discussions at four levels. First, the publication discusses in detail the two mega-regionals, the TPP and the RCEP, that are ongoing at this moment. Second, it examines the feasibility of the ASEAN Economic Community and the China–Japan–Korea Trilateral Agreement serving as building blocks for the more comprehensive agreements in Asia. Third, it sheds light on the other regionals, like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Pacific Alliance (PA), and examines their potential for linking the Pacific and Asia. Lastly, the publication examines the possibility for a FTAAP and its implications for the WTO.
Foreword
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- By Tan Chin Tiong, ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Edited by Malcolm Cook, Daljit Singh
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- Book:
- Southeast Asian Affairs 2016
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 19 May 2017
- Print publication:
- 10 March 2016, pp vii-viii
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Summary
It is my pleasure to present the forty-third edition of Southeast Asian Affairs. The information and analysis in this annual review will be useful for all those interested in developments in Southeast Asia.
The year 2015 saw global economic headwinds grow stronger in Southeast Asia. Growth in Japan and Europe remained subdued, while in China growth weakened and market volatility increased. These external factors were the main reasons for the lower growth rates, manufacturing exports, stock market capitalizations, and currency values in Southeast Asia. These headwinds will likely continue throughout 2016.
On the security front, the problems in the South China Sea worsened, particularly between the United States and China. China, the United States, Japan and India all increased their active interest in the South China Sea. The United States and China increased their pressure on Southeast Asian states and ASEAN to support their positions on the South China Sea.
Politics in 2015 reflected the region's diversity. The election in Singapore saw a strong surge of support for the ruling People's Action Party. Myanmar's first free election in many years saw a definitive defeat for the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party. In Indonesia, the Jokowi administration struggled to translate its election victory into effective rule, while the Philippines, Vietnam and Laos geared up for leadership changes in 2016. The long-standing political regimes in Cambodia and Malaysia faced greater popular pressure for change, while Thailand moved no closer to a return to democracy.
I would like to thank the authors, the editors as well as others who have helped to make this publication possible. The chapters in the volume contain a wide variety of views and perspectives. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute. The authors alone are responsible for the facts and opinions presented in their contributions.
Preface
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- By Tan Chin Tiong, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
- Edited in consultation with Kee Beng Ooi, Sanchita Basu Das, Terence Chong, Malcolm Cook, Cassey Lee, Michael Chai Ming Yeo
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- Book:
- The 3rd ASEAN Reader
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 22 June 2017
- Print publication:
- 17 August 2015, pp xii-xii
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Summary
This Third Volume of the ASEAN Reader series is published this year when the first phase of community-building in ASEAN is ending, and its next phase is being charted by the Association's political leaders. The forewords to the first volume by ASEAN Founding Fathers Thanat Khoman of Thailand and S. Rajaratnam of Singapore (published in 1992), and to the second volume by ISEAS Chairman, Professor Wang Gungwu (published in 2003), are included to refresh us on the origins of ASEAN and the continuing challenges the 48-year-old Association has been facing, and will continue to face into the future.
There are more than 80 articles in this Volume III by scholars and experts from Southeast Asia and beyond. They address issues from different perspectives, from the long-term view and country analysis, to comparative issues and specific challenges in ASEAN, Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific, to relations of major powers and their impacts on ASEAN and its members. The next phase of community-building in ASEAN beyond 2015 will be more challenging as the Association and the region face new and unprecedented challenges from within and from without. These include intensified US-China engagement, complex China-Japan relations, a more confident India, rising nationalism, widening income gaps within ASEAN countries, global economic uncertainties, and threats to human security in the region from international terrorism and contagious diseases. To ensure peace, security and prosperity, individual ASEAN countries and the region will have to work closely together in the next phase of ASEAN community-building. In the coming years, ASEAN may even see a new member, Timor-Leste.
Readers interested in the ASEAN Com-munity and in ASEAN's external engagements will find Volume III interesting. So also those keen to understand issues influencing the direction of regionalism in Southeast Asia and to see where the ASEAN Community is heading. Many of the articles in this third volume have been published previously, either by ISEAS or other publishers. We thank all the publishers for their permission to use the selected works.
This volume would not have been pos-sible without the efforts of the editorial team headed by Dr Ooi Kee Beng, Deputy Director of ISEAS, and including co-editors Dr Terence Chong, Dr Cassey Lee, Dr Malcolm Cook, and Ms Sanchita Basu Das. Mr Michael Yeo, as editorial assistant, provided sterling support for the team.
Foreword
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- By Tan Chin Tiong, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
- Edited by Daljit Singh
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- Book:
- Southeast Asian Affairs 2015
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 19 May 2017
- Print publication:
- 19 May 2015, pp vii-viii
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Summary
It is my pleasure to present the forty-second edition of Southeast Asian Affairs. This annual review is an important source of information and analysis for all those interested in developments in Southeast Asia.
The year 2014 was a challenging one for Southeast Asia. Economic growth was lower than what many had expected at the beginning of the year. This was due to the sluggish economic recovery in the advanced industrial economies, a slowdown in China, and decline in domestic private consumption and investment in key Southeast Asian economies.
On the political front, there was more uncertainty in Thailand, following a military coup during the year. In Malaysia, the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak continued to face severe domestic challenges. In Indonesia, the election of a new president from outside the traditional elites posed questions about what his domestic and foreign policies would be like. The Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) was a matter of growing concern, especially to Indonesia and Malaysia, as it attracted recruits from the region for the jihadi cause. Major power competition in the region was more palpable, posing a challenge to ASEAN and its centrality. Tensions in the South China Sea still remained by and large contained but China's huge reclamation projects were causing concerns in Southeast Asia and beyond.
I would like to thank the authors and the editor as well as others who have helped to make this publication possible. The chapters in the volume contain a wide variety of views and perspectives. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute. The authors alone are responsible for the facts and opinions presented in their contributions.
Foreword
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- By Tan Chin Tiong, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore
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- Book:
- Malaysia's Socio-Economic Transformation
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 21 October 2015
- Print publication:
- 06 August 2014, pp ix-x
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Summary
Since its independence in 1957, Malaysia had evolved from an agrarian economy into an industrial one envied by many other developing nations. In 1991, former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammed launched Vision 2020 as a roadmap for the country to achieve developed nation status. This vision called for a self-sufficient, democratic, economically just, mature, united, liberal and tolerant society by 2020, with US$6,000 in per capita income in 1980 prices. However, the Asian Crisis of 1998 significantly set this back, as Malaysia had to spend a number of years recovering from the crisis and regaining foreign investor confidence. The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 also negatively impacted on Malaysia's economic development and slowed its progress towards the achievement of Vision 2020.
Today, Malaysia is perceived by many as being stuck in a middle-income trap, facing challenges on many fronts. A disconnect appears to have developed between policy-making and the national economic reality. In addition, the challenges of globalization have meant that Malaysia has to significantly increase its productivity, especially in the services sector in order to stay relevant. The shortage of skills necessary for a move towards a knowledge-based economy compounds the problem, the infrastructure has expanded significantly but only in certain parts of the country, with many other areas left with little development.
Since assuming office in April 2009, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has shown his determination to stay on course to achieve the goals of Vision 2020. In June 2010, he unveiled the 10th Malaysian Plan(2011–15) to chart Malaysia's development from a middle- to a high-income nation. In dollar terms, Malaysia will need to achieve an income level of US$15,000 per capita by 2020. More importantly, its economy will need to be restructured to one which is driven by productivity, innovation, and a focused specialization on selected economic sectors.
Malaysia is also working intensively on bilateral and regional trade agreements. In addition to the commitment to be a member of the ASEAN Economic Community, Malaysia has signed or is negotiating thirteen bilateral FTAs. It is a member of ASEAN+1 FTAs and is negotiating its way to be a part of the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the US-led Tran-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. One important rationale for Malaysia to be part of these FTAs is its intention to undertake difficult domestic reforms, which currently face serious domestic opposition.
Foreword
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- By Tan Chin Tiong, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
- Edited by Daljit Singh
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- Book:
- Southeast Asian Affairs 2014
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 19 May 2017
- Print publication:
- 03 June 2014, pp vii-viii
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Summary
It is my pleasure to present the forty-first edition of Southeast Asian Affairs. This annual review has become an important source of information and analysis for all those interested in developments in Southeast Asia.
Despite the slow-down in China and India and sluggish growth in the developed countries, Southeast Asia still achieved a 5.4 per cent estimated economic growth rate in 2013. By the end of the year, there was optimism that growth in 2014 will pick up as external demand from the advanced economies recovers. The year 2013 was also marked by yet another of the major natural disasters that parts of the region are prone to, this time supertyphoon Haiyan which struck central Philippines and caused major losses to life and property.
The political scene in Southeast Asia presented a mixed picture. The stalemate and uncertainty in Thai politics persisted. Troubling signs appeared of Buddhist-Muslim polarization in Myanmar. However on the whole there were no big surprises, except perhaps for the electoral setback experienced by the ruling party in Cambodia. On the broader geopolitical canvas, Sino-Japanese relations were even more difficult and tense than the year before, posing a challenge to ASEAN and other powers that have been working to facilitate harmonious relations between the major players for the sake of regional stability. Tensions in the South China Sea remained contained but were by no means dissipated. Southeast Asian countries’ hopes for progress in negotiating a Code of Conduct with China did not materialize.
I would like to thank the authors and the editor as well as others who have helped to make this publication possible. Needless to say, the chapters in the volume contain a wide variety of opinions and perspectives which do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute.
Foreword
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- By Tan Chin Tiong, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)
- Edited by Kee Beng Ooi
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- Book:
- ISEAS Perspective
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 21 October 2015
- Print publication:
- 08 January 2014, pp ix-x
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Summary
The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) launched its electronic publication ISEAS Perspective in mid-2012.
The main function of this new product is to act as a platform for short and succinct articles analysing current events in the region, and written by researchers affiliated to ISEAS. The publication's production process has been structured for speed and for maximal distribution by electronic means.
Kept between 2000 and 3000 words, this publication format has since then proven to be a success. The feedback from members of the public has been very encouraging, as has the huge number of contributions sent in by ISEAS researchers. For subjects where in-house expertise is lacking, ISEAS invites guest writers to fill the gap.
During its first year in existence, 58 internally reviewed issues were produced. These were distributed in steady fashion by email to addresses registered with the Institute. Needless to say, the mailing list for this publication has been growing steadily. Those interested to get onto it should register by writing to iseas_perspective@iseas.edu.sg.
All past and present issues of ISEAS Perspective can be downloaded from our website for free [www.iseas.edu.sg], and will remain so for the foreseeable future. However, ISEAS has deemed it a worthy public service to have selected articles from that first year published in a single printed volume at cost price.
This is the book that you now hold in your hand.
Articles herein were chosen according to strict criteria such as analytical strength; continued salience of the subject discussed; referential potential; literary quality in general; et cetera.
ISEAS intends to print such annual selections in the coming years. We are certain that you, the reader, will find them informative and stimulating.
Foreword
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- By Tan Chin Tiong, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore
- Edited by Sanchita Basu Das, Jayant Menon, Rodolfo C. Severino, Omkar Lal Shrestha
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- Book:
- The ASEAN Economic Community
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 21 October 2015
- Print publication:
- 28 November 2013, pp vii-viii
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Summary
As 2015 approaches, that year, at least in the more knowledgeable parts of the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is increasingly associated with the creation of the ASEAN Community. After all, ASEAN's leaders had declared in 2007 “ASEAN's strong commitments towards accelerating the establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015”.
In 2009, the leaders issued the Roadmap for the ASEAN Community (2009–15) containing blueprints for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which they had adopted in 2007, and the Political-Security and Socio-Cultural Communities.
The AEC Blueprint comes with a matrix called “Strategic Schedule”, most of which lays down very specific measures to be taken in 4 two-year tranches until 2015. With the support and collaboration of the Asian Development Bank, the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) engaged experts, most of them leading authorities in their fields especially with respect to ASEAN, to examine the prospects of the AEC's achievement by 2015, identify the domestic political obstacles to that achievement, and suggest policy measures to address them.
The experts found that, if the commitments were to be taken literally and at face value, and if the obstacles were to be taken into account, it would be very difficult for the AEC measures to be carried out by 2015. While the ASEAN vision of creating an economic community marked by the free flow of goods, services, foreign direct investment and skilled labor and the “freer flow of capital”, is far-sighted, courageous and ambitious, too much political opposition and inadequate institutional infrastructure lie in the way of their effective implementation.
However, if the measures in the AEC Blueprint are to be regarded as ASEAN aspirations and commitments pointing in the general direction of creating the region as a single market and production base, and if the year 2015 is to be seen as a benchmark of progress in that direction, the AEC 2015 should be taken seriously not only by the ASEAN states but also by businesses and by not-for-profit organizations.
It is in this spirit that we at ISEAS consider the findings and conclusions of the prominent experts whom we have engaged.
Foreword
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- By Tan Chin Tiong, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
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- Book:
- Southeast Asian Affairs 2012
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 21 October 2015
- Print publication:
- 10 May 2012, pp vii-viii
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I am pleased to present the thirty-ninth edition of Southeast Asian Affairs. Like past issues in the series, this review of political, economic, and security developments in Southeast Asia in 2011 contains both Southeast Asian and outside perspectives of Southeast Asia. It is designed to be easily readable yet in-depth, informative and analytical. Southeast Asian Affairs has become a useful guide to all those, both specialists and non-specialists, who seek to understand Southeast Asian dynamics.
The year 2011 saw some slowdown from the strong economic growth in the previous year, but generally Southeast Asia as a region still did well. Perhaps the major political surprise was the rapid pace of change in Myanmar which saw ministers, officials, and businessmen from many countries scrambling to the country to assess the prospects and opportunities. Tensions in the South China Sea subsided somewhat in the second half of the year, though it was not clear if this relative calm would continue in 2012. ASEAN had an active year under Indonesia's Chair: among other things, it mediated in the Thai-Cambodia border conflict; held the expanded East Asian Summit with U.S. and Russian participation for the first time; and, in a vote of confidence in the reforms under way in Myanmar, agreed that Myanmar should chair ASEAN in 2014.
I would like to thank the authors and the editors, as well as others who have, in one way or another, helped to make this publication possible. The contents of this volume represent a wide variety of views and perspectives. Needless to say, the authors alone are responsible for the facts and opinions expressed in their respective contributions, and their interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute.