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2.0. ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
2.1. APEC
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) are the two main economic forces of integration and cooperation in East and South
East Asia (Mukhopadhyay and Thomassin,2010).
APEC, founded in 1989, aims to enhance economic growth and prosperity and to reinforce
the Asia-Pacific community. It serves as a hub for promoting economic growth, cooperation,
trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. As an inter-governmental group, APEC
operates based on non-binding commitments, open dialogue and equal respect for the views
of all participants. The key distinct feature of APEC is that it has no treaty obligations
required of its members. The decision-making process within APEC is done by consensus
and commitments are made on a voluntary basis. APEC has 21 members, accounting for
approximately 40% of the world’s population, 55% of world GDP and about 44%of world
trade (APEC, 2013). APEC has committed to reduce tariffs and nontariff barriers across the
Asia-Pacific region in order to create efficient domestic economies and to significantly boost
exports. Adopted by leaders at their 1994 meeting in Bogor in Indonesia, APEC’s vision is to
liberalize trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for industrialized economies and
2020 for developing economies.
Since it was founded, APEC has made much progress in the areas of trade and investment
liberalization, business facilitation and economic and technical cooperation.
Average trade
barriers in the region had been brought down from 16.9% in 1989 to 5.8% in 2010, resulting
in nearly a six-fold increase in intra-APEC merchandise trade (exports and imports). By the
same token, between 1989 and 2010 APEC’s total trade had increased more than five times,
while that of the rest of the world had increased about 4.6 times. Moreover, APEC twice
launched the ‘Trade Facilitation Action Plan,’, resulting in a reduction of the cost of business
transaction across the region by 5% between 2002 and 2006 and by a further 5% in real terms
between 2007 and 2010. Such cost reduction of business transaction represents a total savings
for business of $58.7 billon. Finally, around 1600 projects have been initiated since APEC
first began to engage in capacity building work in 1993. APEC contributes funding to around
100–150 projects each year, with a total value of over $23 million committed by APEC to
projects in 2010–2011 (APEC, 2013).
2.2 ASEAN
1. ASEAN history
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), comprising the five original member
countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, was established on
8 August 1967 (Lee, 1978). The formation of ASEAN has been influenced by both political
and geostrategic reasons associated with the West’s abandonment of its role as a shield
against communism (Lee, 1983). After the 1973-74 oil crisis and recession, regional
economic cooperation made much progress in preferential trading arrangements between
members, common trade negotiations with outside powers and a policy of complementary
industrial investment.
ASEAN was extended to include Brunei Darussalam in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, both Lao
PDR and Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999. ASEAN integration was enhanced by the
implementation of the Agreement on ASEAN Preferential Trading Arrangement in 1977,
which was amended in 1995. Since then, the relations between member countries of ASEAN
have strengthened both in scope and importance. These relations comprise, inter alia, trade,
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investment, customs, and intellectual property (European Commission, 2008). As of 2011,
the ASEAN region hada population of approximately 605 million people (8.8% of the
world’s population), a land area of 4.46 million km² (3% of the total land area of Earth), a
combined nominal GDP of US$2,178 billion (3.1% of world GDP), and a total trade of about
US$2,388 billion (6.5% of total world trade)(ASEAN Secretariat, 2012a).
The primary purposes of ASEAN are (i) to accelerate economic growth, social progress and
cultural development in the region through joint endeavours in the spirit of equality and
partnership in order to strengthen the foundation for a prosperous and peaceful community of
Southeast Asian Nations; and (ii) to promote regional peace and stability through abiding
respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries of the region and
adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter (ASEAN Secretariat, 2012c).
To further enhance intra-regional trade, the ASEAN leaders decided to build a new
institution, known as the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), in 1992. AFTA was intended to
reduce tariffs on all trade among members to under 5% within 15 years, albeit with the
innumerable exclusions upon which each member nation insisted. Initially, the deadline for
tariff reduction was set for 2008. But after ASEAN was enlarged to include Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia, and Myanmar, the deadline was moved forward to 2003, and later to 2000. In
2000, the Initiative on ASEAN Integration was launched, including unilateral and voluntary
tariff reduction, especially by the older ASEAN members. The establishment of an ASEAN
fund in excess of US$ 55 million played a crucial role in helping new members in areas such
as infrastructure, human resource development, information and communications technology,
and regional economic integration. In 2002, AFTA became operative but it appears not yet to
have had a substantive impact. AFTA has been more of a preferential trade area with lower
tariffs among its members compared to the rest of the world than a free trade area that
eliminates tariffs and non-tariff barriers on goods produced by members for intra-AFTA trade
(Angresano, 2004, p. 921).
2. AFTA
The ASEAN Free Trade Area was established in 1993 by Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. AFTA comprised a schedule of
preferential tariff reductions, to be implemented progressively until 2010. Goods were
divided in five categories: Inclusion List-Fast Track (IL-FT); Inclusion List-Normal (IL-N);
Temporary Exclusion List (TEL); Sensitive List (SL); and General Exceptions (GE). The
group titles reveal their meanings quite accurately. IL-FT goods were expected to have
preferential tariffs reduced to 0-5% by 2000, while IL-N products had until 2003 to reach that
level. TEL items were expected to be phased into the Inclusion List by 2000 for most
manufactured products, and by 2003 for unprocessed agricultural products. SL goods
corresponded mainly to unprocessed agricultural products that were granted a more flexible
arrangement for phasing into the Inclusion List. Finally, GE products were permanently
excluded from the agreement. In the second half of the 1990s, AFTA expanded to include
four other countries in the region, namely, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. They
were incorporated into the existing scheme for preferential liberalization, although with more
flexibility both with respect to the products added to the Inclusion List and with respect to the
timing of liberalization.
The formation of AFTA seems a clear means to eliminate tariff and nontariff barrier in
ASEAN. This arrangement has significantly enhanced intra-ASEAN trade. With an average