ASEAN Post-50

Emerging Issues and Challenges

Aida Idris, Nurliana Kamaruddin, Aida Idris, Nurliana Kamaruddin

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9789811380426
• eBook ISBN:
  9789811380433
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Agribusiness
• Index: Business

The first 50 years of ASEAN integration has brought peace and prosperity to the Southeast Asian region, while the next 50 will undoubtedly be fraught with unprecedented challenges. Today ASEAN not only has to contend with its own internal challenges arising from the highly diverse political, economic and socio-cultural systems of its member countries, it also has to deal with external factors which include shifts in geostrategic balance, fraying global consensus on free trade, populism and xenophobia, climate change, digital revolutions and cybercrimes.
Set against the above background, this edited collection considers some of the contemporary issues and challenges faced by ASEAN in its journey towards more cohesive and dynamic regional integration. Among the topics explored are ASEAN's evolving partnerships with its key strategic partners including China and the United States on economic policies and strategies, educational systems and frameworks, migration and environmental threats.

© The Author(s) 2019

Aida Idris and Nurliana Kamaruddin (eds.)ASEAN Post-50https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8043-3_1

Begin Abstract

1. Overview of ASEAN

Aida Idris¹ and Nurliana Kamaruddin²

(1)

Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

(2)

Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Aida Idris (Corresponding author)

Email: [email protected]

Nurliana Kamaruddin

Email: [email protected]

End Abstract

Background

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed on 8 August 1967 through the signing of the Bangkok Declaration by five founding member countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The primary motivation for the establishment of this regional pact was to promote regional peace and resilience amidst the volatilities of the Cold War (Hoang et al. 2016). With the successive inclusion of Brunei, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar (Burma) and Cambodia over the next few decades, ASEAN’s membership has grown to the present ten states.

The benefits of economic and sociocultural cooperation have underlined the importance of solidarity among these neighbouring countries. By the end of the 1990s, ASEAN had emerged as one of the world’s most successful models of regional integration, spurred by its Vision 2020 (ASEAN Secretariat 2017a) of “a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies”.

Due to its track record in regional economic development and political cooperation, ASEAN has often been compared to the European Union (EU). However, unlike the EU, ASEAN was never intended to be a supranational organization; rather, it prides itself as a collection of diverse neighbouring nations which are committed to maintaining regional peace and stability through a process of peaceful talks and negotiations, known as the ASEAN Way (Yukawa 2018). Another important philosophy which revolves around the region is ASEAN “centrality”.

According to Acharya (2017), the notion of ASEAN centrality means that ASEAN lies at the core of Asia or Asia Pacific regional institutions, providing the institutional platform within which the wider Asia Pacific and East Asian regional institutions are anchored. In other words, without ASEAN, it would not have been possible to construct these wider regional bodies. ASEAN centrality also implies that Southeast Asia is at the hub of Asian regionalist debates over norms and mechanisms for regional cooperation in Asia, such as the discourse on non-interference and legalization.

Regional peace in ASEAN has led to stable economic growth, resulting in substantial reduction in extreme poverty across the region, where the percentage of population living below USD1.25 per day has decreased from 47% in 1990 to 14% in 2015 (ASEAN Secretariat 2017a). Significant improvements have also been recorded in health and education, as evidenced by rising tertiary enrolment rates and life expectancy, especially in the lower income CLMV states (comprising Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam).

Having celebrated its 50th anniversary recently, ASEAN now stands as the third largest economy in Asia and seventh globally (ASEAN Secretariat 2017b). With the formal establishment of the ASEAN Community in November 2015, leaders of member states adopted the ASEAN 2025 document which sets out the direction for a “politically cohesive, economically integrated, socially responsible and a truly rules-based, people-oriented, people-centred ASEAN”. Three pillars define the ASEAN Community—the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. The formation of this Community, supported by a collective population of about 635 million people and a consumer market of USD2.6 trillion, has obviously introduced enormous opportunities for ASEAN and its partners.

Nevertheless, ASEAN is currently at a turning point as it moves forward in a turbulent and uncertain twenty-first century. Although the first fifty years of integration has brought about peace and prosperity to the region, the next fifty undoubtedly will be fraught with unprecedented challenges. Today ASEAN not only has to contend with its own internal challenges arising from highly diverse political, economic and sociocultural systems of its member countries, it also has to deal with external factors amidst shifts in geostrategic balance, fraying global consensus on free trade, populism and xenophobia, ideological extremism, climate change, digital revolutions and cybercrimes. These issues are summarized in the following sections.

Diversity Among Member Countries

The entry of the CLMV countries into ASEAN in the late 1990s raised concerns over the possible emergence of a two-tier region, resulting from a development gap between them and the six older member states, popularly known as the ASEAN6 . The Human Development Index (HDI) reported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP 2018) suggests clear discrepancies in average income, health and education between CLMV and ASEAN6 populations. As indicated in Table 1.1, Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia are categorized as very high HDI, while Thailand is high. The remaining six members are considered medium scorers, with the Philippines and Indonesia leading the CLMV countries. These gaps appear to be mainly related to differences in population distribution between urban and rural areas (ASEAN Secretariat 2017a). Whereas more than half of the population in ASEAN6 live in cities, only a third of CLMV population do so. In other words, a huge majority of CLMV population live in rural areas, with less access to education, health and business infrastructure than that of ASEAN6 .

Table 1.1

Human development index of ASEAN member countries

Country	HDI (2017)
Singapore	0.932	very high
Brunei	0.853	very high
Malaysia	0.802	very high
Thailand	0.755	high
Philippines	0.699	medium
Indonesia	0.694	medium
Vietnam	0.694	medium
Laos	0.601	medium
Cambodia	0.582	medium
Myanmar	0.578	medium

Source UNDP (2018)

Furthermore, even though recent reports (ASEAN Secretariat 2017a) show that CLMV represent around 27% of the total ASEAN population, their share of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) is only about 12%. Also worth noting is their heavier dependence on trade in goods (approximately 18% of the total ASEAN value in 2016), while the services trade sector is significantly less productive, fluctuating around 9–12% of the total for ASEAN since 1999 and even recording a decline in recent years (from 13.4% in 2015 to 12.0% in 2016). In contrast, the positive trend in services trade for ASEAN6 has been consistent at m...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Overview of ASEAN
• 2. ASEAN at 50: The Rise of China and the Emerging Regional Integration Architecture
• 3. The ASEAN-ROK Economic Relations: Challenges and Opportunities
• 4. Determinants of Chinese Overseas FDI in ASEAN Countries
• 5. Empowerment for Economic and Human Capital Development Through Education
• 6. ASEAN Qualification Reference Framework: Harmonization of ASEAN Higher Education Area
• 7. Representing Migration in ASEAN: Challenges to Regional Integration
• 8. Environmental Challenges Within ASEAN: Contemporary Legal Issues and Future Considerations
• 9. Environmental Threats to the Performance of Urban Areas in ASEAN Integration
• 10. Regulatory Incoherence in Nutrition Labelling of Pre-packaged Food in ASEAN: What Next?
• 11. Real-Life Moral Dilemma Discussion (Re-LiMDD) Among Young Adolescents: A Comparison Between Malaysia and Indonesia
• 12. Challenges and Opportunities; Lessons for ASEAN Post 50
• Back Matter