Regional Integration and Inclusive Development: Lessons from ASEAN Experience

Hank Lim () and Kester TAY Yi-Xun
Additional contact information
Kester TAY Yi-Xun: Singapore Institute of International Affairs

No 5908, Working Papers from Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), an initiative of UNESCAP and IDRC, Canada.

Abstract: The current economic crisis has lent extra urgency to ASEAN’s efforts at economic integration and raising its attractiveness for trade and investment. This process gained momentum in the 1990s and has made much progress, as reflected in the emergence of a wide range of extra- and intra-regional agreements. However, the effectiveness of this network of arrangements in stimulating trade and investment depends on not just the characteristics of each arrangement but how well they complement each other. This paper addresses these two areas by examining and evaluating past and present initiatives individually and collectively. Findings suggest that the fundamental impeding issues have endured over the years: lack of political will, ASEAN-style consensus-reliant negotiation, and insufficient management in implementing and harmonising of initiatives. Recommendations include agreement design innovation and focus on shared concerns to overcome lack of will, role expansion of the secretariat to monitor implementation through issuance of score cards, and establishment of specialised bodies such as sub-committees and working groups to enhance implementation and dispute settlement.

Keywords: ASEAN; Economic Integration; Development; Trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-12
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published in ARTNeT website

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.unescap.org/tid/artnet/pub/wp5908.pdf (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 404 Not Found (http://www.unescap.org/tid/artnet/pub/wp5908.pdf [301 Moved Permanently]--> https://www.unescap.org/tid/artnet/pub/wp5908.pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:esc:wpaper:5908

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), an initiative of UNESCAP and IDRC, Canada.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Yann Duval ().