Steady progress for AEC in first year

The establishment of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 was a major milestone in the region’s economic integration. With a GDP of USD2.6 trillion and 600 million people, the AEC is Asia’s third largest economy and the seventh largest in the world. What is the AEC score card thus far? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly.

AEC’s Blueprint 2025 envisions in achieving a highly integrated and competitive regional economy with enhanced connectivity to improve market access for ASEAN companies to sell goods and services.

However, the past year has seen missed opportunities to accelerate progress for cross-border investment between ASEAN countries, speeding up the harmonization progress of non-tariff barriers as well as integrating a competition policy across ASEAN.

Nevertheless, the AEC is making some progress. In time, it is well-placed to improve market access and provide the ASEAN grouping of 10 nations with more bargaining power in negotiating trade deals with other countries.

If it stays the course in enhancing economic growth and narrowing development gaps through higher productivity and investment, ASEAN is bound to be at the forefront of Asia Pacific’s trade liberalization initiatives.

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This release was published on openPR.