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2 - Monitoring the ASEAN Economic Community: Issues and Challenges
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- By Aladdin D. Rillo, ASEAN Integration Monitoring Office
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- Book:
- ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 21 October 2015
- Print publication:
- 06 May 2013, pp 20-27
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- Chapter
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Summary
Regional economic integration is a complex process. It requires not only the ability to implement initiatives to support the markets, but also a high level of commitment by countries to ensure that policies are supportive of integration. Effective and sustainable regional integration process can only be reached with sufficient levels of participation by relevant stakeholders and systematic monitoring of the various initiatives and measures.
It is within this context that the monitoring of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) should be viewed. Ever since ASEAN has envisioned building an integrated region by 2015, efforts have been strengthened to ensure that this objective can be achieved. Obviously, building an economic community is not easy, given the diversity of the region and the challenges facing the countries in the implementation of various measures. Hence, monitoring the progress of AEC implementation is crucial.
I. Monitoring the AEC: Some Fundamentals
One approach towards monitoring ASEAN economic integration is the AEC Scorecard. Developed in 2008 to support the AEC Blueprint, the Scorecard is designed to measure the implementation of the various measures under the AEC Blueprint, as well as to track the extent to which countries comply with their commitments in the Blueprint. It covers the four elements under the AEC Blueprint, namely: a single market and production base; a highly competitive economic region; a region of equitable economic development; and a region fully integrated into the global economy.
The AEC Scorecard at this juncture is only a compliance tool to ensure ASEAN and its member states are on track with the implementation of their commitments. It is not a tool to evaluate the impact of these measures. Nonetheless, the AEC Scorecard should be an evolving document that could be improved or revised and could be used in tandem with other instruments for evaluation purposes.
ASEAN Economies: Challenges and Responses Amid the Crisis
- from THE REGION
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- Book:
- Southeast Asian Affairs 2009
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 21 October 2015
- Print publication:
- 28 May 2009, pp 17-27
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- Chapter
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Summary
What began as credit turmoil in the United States has intensified into a global financial crisis, leading to protracted slowdown and severe financial deleveraging in many countries. Like other regions in the world, ASEAN is not immune from this downturn. Since the crisis further deepened in September 2008, the region has been confronted with many challenges arising from slowing growth, tighter external financing conditions, volatile capital flows, and increased vulnerabilities. In response to the deepening crisis, many countries in the region have put in place various policy measures to recapitalize and inject liquidity into financial institutions, in addition to huge stimulus packages being implemented in some economies to firm up domestic demand.
ASEAN Has Not Decoupled from the Global Downturn …
Faced by increasingly difficult external conditions, the economies of ASEAN have slowed in 2008 (see Figure 1). Preliminary figures for the first three quarters of 2008 suggest that the region grew by 5.5 per cent, down from 6.2 per cent registered in 2007. Two factors account for this downward shift in regional growth. First is the deeper-than-expected financial crisis and second is the severe recession in advanced economies. Together, these headwinds moderated growth in global economy last year (estimated at 3.4 per cent by the IMF versus 5.2 per cent in 2007), and exerted significant spill over to the region, in terms of sharp decline in export growth and tighter financial conditions.
Although the impact of the crisis on the real economy of ASEAN was not so severe, available growth indicators point to deceleration in economic activity particularly in the Philippines and Singapore where growth rates fell markedly from a year ago. After growing by an average of 8.5 per cent in the first three quarters of 2007, Singapore managed to grow by 3.1 per cent during the same period in 2008. In the third quarter alone, output did not grow at all, as output of manufacturing, construction and services sectors plunged. In the Philippines, growth also slowed significantly to 4.7 per cent for the first nine months, from 7.5 per cent during the same period in 2007, on weak consumption and exports.