ASEAN aims to realise the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2025. This ambitious project would require a high degree of economic integration among its member states. However, there appears to be a “two-tier ASEAN” in which there exists a wide economic divide between the original and more developed member states of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand (ASEAN-6) and the newer transitional economies of Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Viet Nam (CLMV). The Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) was launched in 2000 to narrow this economic development gap and the deadline of its most recent work plan coincides with the realisation of the AEC by 2025. How effective has the IAI been in achieving some level of economic convergence? Has the recent Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated this economic division? Given the significant challenges in narrowing the development gap, can the AEC succeed in a two-tier ASEAN?
The Centre on Asia and Globalisation is holding its 7th Counterpoint Southeast Asia public webinar on 22 May 2023, asking: “
Can the AEC Succeed in a Two-Tier ASEAN?” Three Southeast Asian analysts will provide their unique perspectives.
Dr Jayant Menon is Senior Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and former Lead Economist at the Asian Development Bank. He holds adjunct appointments with the Australian National University, University of Nottingham, UK, and IDEAS, Malaysia. He works on trade and development issues in the Asia-Pacific region.
Dr Kaewkamol Pitakdumrongkit is Head and Assistant Professor at the Centre for Multilateralism Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR), U.S.A. Her research interests include international economic negotiation, Indo-Pacific economic governance and integration, regional-global economic governance dynamics, ASEAN Economic Community, and ASEAN’s external relations (ASEAN-Plus frameworks).
Ms Quynh Huong Nguyen is working as Economic Affairs Consultant at United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Bangkok. She is also a Ph.D. Candidate in Graduate School of International Relations at Ritsumeikan University, Japan. Her research focus on the relationship between technology transfer and foreign direct investment in Southeast Asia.
Download the published issue as a single PDF bundle here.
Counterpoint Southeast Asia is a webinar and policy brief series that tackles strategic and complex questions facing Southeast Asia by presenting the perspectives of regional academics and policy experts. It is organised by the Centre on Asia and Globalisation, LKYSPP, NUS.