ANOVERVIEWOF THEAECBLUEPRINT

Lim Chze Cheen Bureau for Economic Integration and Finance ASEAN Secretariat
Services Trade Liberalisation and Labor Migration Policies in ASEAN: Towards the ASEAN Economic Community 23-26 September 2008, Bangkok, Thailand
Theviewsexpressedinthispaperaretheviewsoftheauthoranddonotnecessarilyreflecttheviews orpoliciesoftheAsianDevelopmentBankInstitute(ADBI),the AsianDevelopmentBank(ADB),its BoardofDirectors,orthegovernmentstheyrepresent.ADBIdoes notguaranteetheaccuracyofthe data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use. TerminologyusedmaynotnecessarilybeconsistentwithADBofficialterms.

OutlineofPresentation
Concept and elements of an

ASEAN Economic Community

Implementing the ASEAN

Economic Community Blueprint

Challenges to advancing ASEAN

Economic Community by 2015

BackgroundonASEANEconomic Cooperation
Introduction of ASEAN Preferential Trading Arrangement (PTA) in 1977 Framework Agreement on Enhancing ASEAN Economic Cooperation was signed in 1992, which provided the basis for the establishment of ASEAN Free Trade Area Agenda for Greater Economic Integration in Bangkok Summit 1995 ASEAN Vision 2020 at Kuala Lumpur Summit 1997 Bali Concord 2003

ASEAN COMMUNITY
T ER C

OU TW A

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E S E C U R I T Y C O N O M I C Building Bridges across Three Communities C SU OL CT I U OR A L

ElementsofASEANEconomicCommunity
I. Strategy: why?

IV. Competitive Advantage: how?

Elements of ASEAN Economic Community

II. Goals: where?

III. Scope: what?

WhyAccelerateIntegration
Its a natural progression towards the next level of economic integration as ASEAN approaches 40 years; The rise of China, India and other emerging economies reinforces ASEAN's determination to create a stronger, more united and cohesive ASEAN; and Recognise the need to achieve not only sustainable growth but also resilience to cushion ASEAN from the adverse impact of any internal and/or external shocks.

ASEANEconomicCommunityBlueprint
AEM 2006 - develop a single and coherent blueprint for advancing the AEC; 12th ASEAN Summit (December 2006) ASEAN Leaders agreed to accelerate the establishment of the ASEAN Community by 2015; 13th AEM Retreat (May 2007) - AEC Blueprint and its strategic schedule shall be a legally binding document through the issuance of a Declaration by the Leaders to be signed at the 13th ASEAN Summit in November 2007 in Singapore.

ASEANEconomicCommunityBlueprint
AEC Blueprint to provide ASEAN Member

Countries a strategic plan for the short to medium-term towards 2015 Strategic Schedule includes key milestones for a comprehensive and deeper economic integration by 2015 Four-phase approach (2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13, and 2014-15)

FreeFlowofServicesandSkilledLabor
To-date, 6 packages of liberalisation commitments had been concluded and signed by AEM In addition, there are additional 3 packages of commitments in financial services and 3 packages in air transport An inventory of services barriers compiled and to be updated regularly

FreeFlowofServicesandSkilledLabor
Mode 4 Liberalisation 7 MRAs on Engineering Services, Nursing Services, Architectural Services, Quantity Surveying, Medical Practitioners, Dental Practitioners and Accountancy Services endorsed Professional Exchange Programme ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (January 2007) ASEAN Common Competency Standards for Tourism Professionals (ACCSTP)

EconomicArchitectureofRegionaland TransregionalForum

Source: Emerging Asian Regionalism, A Partnership for Shared Prosperity

ASEANExternalEconomicRelations
ASEAN-Russia ASEAN-China FTA ASEAN-US TIFA ASEAN-Korea FTA ASEAN-Japan CEP ASEAN-Pakistan ASEAN-Canada

ASEAN-EU FTA

ASEAN-India FTA

ASEANAustralia- New Zealand FTA

ASEANEconomicCommunityFamily

StrategiesforImplementation
Monitoring and Evaluation of agreed ASEAN economic initiatives through the AEC Scorecard
No. AECMeasures A.TowardsASingleMarketandProductionBase A1.FreeFlowofGoods A1.1EnhanceCEPTAgreement A1.1.1ConcludeanewASEANTradein GoodsAgreement(ATIGA) A1.1.1.1DrafttheAgreement A1.1.1.2ConsiderationbySEOM A1.1.1.3EndorsementbyAEM A1.1.2RatificationofATIGA CCCA SEOM AEM ASEAN10 July2008 August2008 December 2008 Responsible Body Implementatio nbyCountry EndDate Scorecard
Yes No

StrategiesforImplementation
Communications for greater outreach and awareness through AEC Communications Plan

StrategiesforImplementation
Map out the roles of stakeholders Coordination with stakeholders through ASEAN Coordinating Conference on ASEAN Economic Community (ECOM) and other mechanism ASEAN Talks Business Series ASEAN Economic Community Council

TheTakeaway!
Accelerated (ASEAN Economic Community) Effective (Implementation of ASEAN economic initiatives) Competitive (ASEAN) Act (Expeditiously and Credibly) Engage (ALL sectoral bodies and stakeholders Change (Mindset)

THANK YOU

One Vision One Identity One Community