FT ASEAN ECONOMIC SUMMIT 2015
Policies and Strategies for an Integrated Market
Kuala Lumpur - October 2015
Overview
All eyes are on ASEAN in 2015. By the end of the year, according to the timetable managed by
the ASEAN Secretariat, the 10 nations of this Southeast Asian bloc will be officially integrated
into a single market of 600 million people with an overall GDP of around US$2.3 trillion.
The impact of the ASEAN Economic Community on trade, business and investment will be enormous -- reinforcing the region’s potential as an economic and commercial powerhouse, backed by rich natural resources, fast-growing cities, increasingly wealthy consumers, a young and abundant workforce, and a new generation of aggressive and innovative entrepreneurs.
However, much still needs to be done for full economic integration to become a reality. A number of harmonisation measures, particularly around capital markets, are already in place, but others are behind schedule, due to a combination of bureaucratic overload and protectionist pressures by some countries concerned about the impact of liberalisation on key industries.
As Malaysia assumes the Chairmanship of ASEAN in this crucial year, questions also remain as to whether ASEAN has the institutional structure to maintain an effective Economic Community; and how the needs of economies at different levels of development – particularly in the areas of infrastructure, technology, education, and social and environmental protection – will be addressed. Urgent steps also have to be taken to reverse the region’s historically low productivity rates, which have been masked in recent years by an expanding labour force and the shift from agriculture to manufacturing, but could soon begin to hamper competitiveness.
While integration efforts continue at an administrative level, many businesses inside and outside ASEAN are already accelerating expansion plans in the expectation of tariff-free trade and the free movement of labour, throwing renewed focus on disruptive technologies, skills training, and the other key elements that will form the core of a successful region-wide growth strategy.
How can policy-makers and business leaders work together to build a successful single market? What role will external factors – such as lower oil prices, global monetary recalibration and the slowdown in China – play in negotiations on cross-border liberalisation? Should more attention be placed on the rising investment from partners such as Japan, China, Korea and India as a growth driver? How can productivity increase? Does the ASEAN bloc have the level of technology and innovation to form a real competitive force? Will more ASEAN companies soon be competing against other multinationals, not just across the region, but in global markets too?
These issues and more will be explored in detail at the second Financial Times ASEAN Economic Summit. In this milestone year for Southeast Asia, the Summit moves to Kuala Lumpur, gathering some of the leading minds in the region – from government, business and finance -- to share their vision for ASEAN and discuss the challenges and opportunities ahead.
The impact of the ASEAN Economic Community on trade, business and investment will be enormous -- reinforcing the region’s potential as an economic and commercial powerhouse, backed by rich natural resources, fast-growing cities, increasingly wealthy consumers, a young and abundant workforce, and a new generation of aggressive and innovative entrepreneurs.
However, much still needs to be done for full economic integration to become a reality. A number of harmonisation measures, particularly around capital markets, are already in place, but others are behind schedule, due to a combination of bureaucratic overload and protectionist pressures by some countries concerned about the impact of liberalisation on key industries.
As Malaysia assumes the Chairmanship of ASEAN in this crucial year, questions also remain as to whether ASEAN has the institutional structure to maintain an effective Economic Community; and how the needs of economies at different levels of development – particularly in the areas of infrastructure, technology, education, and social and environmental protection – will be addressed. Urgent steps also have to be taken to reverse the region’s historically low productivity rates, which have been masked in recent years by an expanding labour force and the shift from agriculture to manufacturing, but could soon begin to hamper competitiveness.
While integration efforts continue at an administrative level, many businesses inside and outside ASEAN are already accelerating expansion plans in the expectation of tariff-free trade and the free movement of labour, throwing renewed focus on disruptive technologies, skills training, and the other key elements that will form the core of a successful region-wide growth strategy.
How can policy-makers and business leaders work together to build a successful single market? What role will external factors – such as lower oil prices, global monetary recalibration and the slowdown in China – play in negotiations on cross-border liberalisation? Should more attention be placed on the rising investment from partners such as Japan, China, Korea and India as a growth driver? How can productivity increase? Does the ASEAN bloc have the level of technology and innovation to form a real competitive force? Will more ASEAN companies soon be competing against other multinationals, not just across the region, but in global markets too?
These issues and more will be explored in detail at the second Financial Times ASEAN Economic Summit. In this milestone year for Southeast Asia, the Summit moves to Kuala Lumpur, gathering some of the leading minds in the region – from government, business and finance -- to share their vision for ASEAN and discuss the challenges and opportunities ahead.
