Overview

The ten nations of ASEAN have committed to build an Economic Community. They plan to bring down barriers to goods, services, skilled labour and capital to create a single market in a region with 550 million people and a GDP of more than US$800 billion. This could help ASEAN to establish itself as a higher growth area in Asia, meeting the challenges and opportunities presented by the rise of China and the emergence of India as one of the world's fastest growing economies.

Throughout the 1990s ASEAN formulated a number of plans for deeper economic integration. ASEAN's new vision would accelerate the process. What success will ASEAN have in implementing it? Will ASEAN's implementation move fast enough to meet its challenges? And will its integration be deep enough to create a seamless market?

This report looks at the task ASEAN has set itself, how far it has come and the challenges it faces in going forward. It examines the changes the ten nations are making to the way they work together to realise their bold new vision. It finds that ASEAN's goals may be achieved faster in some sectors, among some members, and regarding some elements of the plan, than others. It highlights the implications for Australia of an evolving ASEAN.

Download

• Table of contents (PDF)
• Executive summary (PDF)
• Full report (PDF - 1.5 MB)

Purchase

To order copies of this report, download order form.

Sponsor

This report is proudly sponsored by: AusAID