Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
ASEAN economic community: the ultimate goal in 2020
“Since economic growth could be threatened by social inequities that could in turn undermine political stability, the ASEAN socio-cultural action porgramme is linked inextricably with the economic and security pillars of the ASEAN Community. The establishment of the ASCC stems from the premise that economic integration and security alone will not be sufficient to realize the vision of an ASEAN Community.”
In November 2002, the ASEAN Heads of Government recommended the creation of
an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2020. This proposal was underpinned by various
considerations, including : (i) the desire to create a post-AFTA agenda, (ii) the need to deepen economic integration within the region in light of the increasing dominance of free trade areas (FTAs), (iii) the possibility that bilateral FTAs, which members are free to engage in, would jeopardize ASEAN integration, and (iv) post-1997 Asian financial crisis lessons that recognized the importance of cooperation in both real and financial sectors, and the free flow of skilled labor to be able to achieve this cooperative endeavor (Plummer,2006). The following year, in 2003, ASEAN resolved to pursue comprehensive integration, and socio-cultural cooperation, to from the ASEAN Security Community (ASC), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). The ASC aims to ensure that countries in the region live one another and with the world at large in a just, democratic and harmonious environment. The AEC is the realization of the ultimate goal of economic integration to create a stable, prosperous and highly competitive ASEAN economic region in which there is free flow of goods, services, investment and freer flow of capital, equitable economic development and reduced poverty and socio-economic disparities in year 2020. The ASCC is envisioned to create a region bonded together in partnership as a community of caring societies. The Vientiane Action Programme (November 2004) describes how these three pillars are closely intertwined :
A fourth dimension can be added to the three pillars en route to the attainment of the goal of realizing the ASEAN Community in 2020. While recognizing that regional economic integration can enhance the convergence of incomes across countries in the region, ASEAN is concerned about its potential risk given the existing wide disparities in income and other human development dimensions among its member countries. The narrowing the development gap (NDG) concern was, in fact, introduced in July 2001when ASEAN issued the Hanoi Declaration on Narrowing Development Gap for Closer ASEAN Integration, and was reaffirmed in the Bali Concord in 2003.