Asean 'risks overstretching for AEC'

[Lite Beer]

Asean 'risks overstretching for AEC'
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Academic says Greek crisis is a warning for Asean that integration takes time

ACADEMICS AND experts have warned that Asean is in danger of overstretching itself due to the speedy deepening and enlarging of ties with full integration of the region scheduled for the year-end.

The regional grouping of 10 nations will officially integrate into a community for what is supposed to be political, security, economic, social and cultural benefits.

The group is preparing a vision paper for the next decade.

The post-2015 vision to be launched at a summit in Malaysia late this year will likely echo the same old ways, but use different words to express how Asean will look and the direction it wants to take in the next decade, Shofwan Al Banna Choiruzzad, from the University of Indonesia, said yesterday.

That vision will continue to consolidate the Asean Community and deepen integration, with enhanced and expanded cooperation and coherence for the three pillars - political security, the economy and culture, he said.

"What happens when the desire for deepening and enlarging regional institutions is not coupled with the capacity of the members to pay for the cost of maintaining the enlarged and deepened integration?" Shofwan said at the seminar "Asean's Post-2015 Vision" hosted by Thammasat University's Centre for Asean Studies and private think tank C-Asean.

Citing the Greece crisis as a lesson to learn for Asean, Shofwan suggested the region not rush to deepen integration as it needs time to assess the current level of integration.

Speaking on the same panel, Termsak Chalermpalanupap, from Singapore's Asean Studies Centre at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said Asean's capacity is limited as it is a poor organisation, which depends entirely on resources from member states. The Asean secretariat has to handle a huge cooperation task and other challenges with a budget of only US$19 million (Bt668 million) a year, he said.

Termsak, who served at the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta for years, suggested that the region implement a new political cooperation treaty to have "balance of national sovereignty and collective responsibility". The treaty should empower the chair of Asean to deal with internal problems and conflicts.

"We need to have a code of conduct among member states to handle our own problems," he said.

Asean in the next decade should be able to reach out to people to become a true people-centred community, rather than focusing too much on cooperation among states, he said.

"How can Asean become a community without people?" he said.

Mohamed Jawhar Hassan of the News Straits Times Press in Malaysia, said Asean's post-2015 vision should not be time-bound to avoid a new vision having to be crafted every five or 10 years.

Asean needed to formulate a longer-term vision that observed and preserved a strategic nature, he said.

More importantly, Asean must be able to implement and deliver on its visions and plans, he said.

Prapat Thepchatree, director of Thammasat University's Centre for Asean Studies, said Asean will face a lot of challenges internally and externally in the next decade including democracy and human rights issues, political conflicts, economic disparity, security threats and geo-political changes, he said.

Prapat suggested that the group consolidate itself as a community, promote Asean as a people-centred community, enhance Asean centrality for regional security and build the region's common platform.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Asean-risks-overstretching-for-AEC-30266183.html

-- The Nation 2015-08-08

[laocowboy2]

ASEAN has proven to be a toothless talking shop while I have yet to see any real sign that most countries (with Thailand and Indonesia as prime examples) are taking AEC seriously.

[deckape]

Gonna be a whole lotta cheatin goin on.

[Srikcir]

"the region implement a new political cooperation treaty to have "balance of national sovereignty and collective responsibility".

For that ASEAN will need to address Thailand having TWO sovereign entities - one for Thai people and one for the military.

[dickyknee]

"the region implement a new political cooperation treaty to have "balance of national sovereignty and collective responsibility".

For that ASEAN will need to address Thailand having TWO sovereign entities - one for Thai people and one for the military.

be careful. Who is the sovereign head of state?

[JAG]

I haven't really been taking that much notice of the whole ASEAN / AEC jig, but I rather understand that as from 1 Jan 2016 there will be free movement of labour and capital throughout the member nations?

I really can't see Thailand actually implementing that somehow.

[bamnutsak]

Citing the Greece crisis as a lesson to learn for Asean, Shofwan suggested the region not rush to deepen integration as it needs time to assess the current level of integration.

So who's Greece in ASEAN?

And who's rushing anything?

Have they actually done anything? I mean other than agree on a spiffy name?

[Laughing Gravy]

Well lets be honest. The ASEAN have been intergrating for the last... 5 years. In stages. But I have not seen it really happen. The intergration of industiries and commerce have been blocked in many ways, lobbying from all angles. How many beers and foriegn foods have you seen here in Thailand, at the normal price. As an example, if beer was allowed to be a free trade here then Beer Lao (just on example) would be on draft and the other poor excuses for local beer would be gone, in price and quality of product.

Food is also a great example. This country wants free trade but only one way. Going out but not allowing the same preferences coming in, such as tax and import/export duities. If Free trade ever exists here, then the big corporate company's would be well and truly screwed.

[jerojero]

Thailand will never deeply Integrate with any other nation(s). Too much self-serving culture and politics abound among Thai leaders of all stripes.

[casindonet]

Citing the Greece crisis as a lesson to learn for Asean, Shofwan suggested the region not rush to deepen integration as it needs time to assess the current level of integration.

So who's Greece in ASEAN?

And who's rushing anything?

Have they actually done anything? I mean other than agree on a spiffy name?

Best candidate would be either Malaysia or Thailand.....both countries are going bust due to the high level of corruption, especially Malaysia if they don't get rid of the current PM.

[cumgranosalum]

Not gonna happen - ASEAN is a non-starter....at lest for the time being and Myanmar has just taken a HUGE step back.

Good article from March on the prospects of ASEAN is here.....http://http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2015.1022593

The Pacific Review, 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2015.1022593

Explaining the failure of the ASEAN economic community: the primacy of domestic political economy

Lee Jones

Abstract All reliable indicators suggest that ASEAN’s (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Economic Community (AEC) will not be successfully established by its 2015 deadline. Why? Against technocratic, realist and constructivist accounts, this article offers an explanation rooted in the political economy of ASEAN’s member-states. Economic liberalisation agreements promote the rescaling of economic governance, involving regulatory changes that may radically redistribute power and resources. Consequently, they are heavily contested between coalitions of social and political forces, without outcomes reflecting the outcome of these struggles. The argument is demonstrated by exploring the uneven sectoral liberalisation achieved under the AEC, the constrained integration of ASEAN’s energy markets, and the limited deregulation of skilled labour migration.