Brick by Brick

Cover

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title Page, Copyright Page

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Table of Contents

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pp. v-vi

Foreword

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pp. vii-viii

ASEAN is celebrating its fortieth anniversary in 2007. The usual busy meeting schedule is now spiced up with festivities and exuberance of spirit and colours. It will be an exciting year for ASEAN. ...

Foreword

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pp. ix-x

Partnership is fundamental to Australia’s relationships with our neighbours. This is no more clearly reflected than in Australia’s long-standing development cooperation with ASEAN. For over thirty years, Australia has worked closely with ASEAN to reduce poverty and promote sustainable economic growth in the region. ...

Acknowledgements by Academic Editor

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pp. xi-xii

I am deeply indebted to Ms Sanchita Basu Das for her editorial assistance without which this book would not be possible. My thanks also to Associate Professor Mely Caballero-Anthony, Dr Ramonette Serafica, Professor Brian Brogan and his associate, Ms Gail Tregear, for their valuable advice. ...

Acknowledgements by Technical Director REPSF

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pp. xiii-xiv

The Regional Economic Policy Support Facility (REPSF) has been privileged to have been associated with two ASEAN Secretary Generals, initially with H.E. Rodolfo Severino, whose perceptive vision shaped the reporting lines within ASEC and the broad research priorities ...

The Contributors

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pp. xv-xvi

The Regional Economic Policy Support Facility

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pp. xvii-xx

This collection of studies results from the first five years of operation of the Regional Economic Policy Support Facility (REPSF), a component of the Australian Government’s ASEAN–Australia Development Cooperation Program (AADCP). During this five-year period, REPSF produced a total of fifty research papers. ...

1.Introduction: Brick by Brick — The Building of an ASEAN Economic Community

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pp. 1-12

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is one of the world’s most successful regional organizations. Established on 8 August 1967, ASEAN consists of ten member countries, namely, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. ...

2. What Is a Single Market? An Application to the Case of ASEAN

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pp. 13-35

Until recently, the European Union (EU) was the only major Regional Trading Agreement (RTA) that had formally adopted a Single Market as a goal. Since 2002, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has styled itself as a Single Market and Economy. ...

3. The Challenge of Economic Integration for Transitional Economies of Southeast Asia

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pp. 36-58

One of the difficult challenges facing Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam (usually referred to as CLMV) as new members of ASEAN is how to implement their commitments and obligations as signatories of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). There is a real concern that, as they reduce their tariffs in accordance with the AFTA guidelines, ...

4. A Review of Regional Tariffs and Trade in the ASEAN Priority Goods Sector

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pp. 59-85

In 2003 the ASEAN Concord II (also known as the Bali Concord II) established the ASEAN Economic Community with a view to integrate the economies of the ASEAN countries. This is outlined in the document, ASEAN Vision 2020. To this end, there is to be a free flow of goods, services, investment and skilled labour, ...

5. Non-tariff Barriers to Trade in the ASEAN Priority Goods Sectors

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pp. 86-115

Non-tariff barriers (NTBs)¹ have been acknowledged by ASEAN members to be as critical as tariffs in the pursuit of regional trade and integration objectives. Members first committed to their minimization alongside tariffs in the 1977 Agreement on ASEAN Preferential Trading Arrangements. ...

6. An Assessment of ASEAN’s Priority Sectors for Fast-track Integration

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pp. 116-131

ASEAN integration offers significant gains to all members. It allows them to capture the gains from interactions with other countries both within ASEAN and with the rest of the world so as to facilitate faster economic growth and improve living standards. The gains include those from freer trade in goods and services, ...

7. ASEAN Tax Regimes: Impediment or Pathway to Greater Integration

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pp. 132-143

Taxation has the potential to either impede or become one of the pathways to greater integration and economic growth within ASEAN. Taxation is only one of many considerations made by businesses in making investment decisions; other factors such as transparency, supply chains, labour force, and markets are clearly important to investment decisions, ...

8. An Overview of the Foreign Direct Investment Jurisprudence

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pp. 144-174

Foreign direct investment (FDI) activity in the strict sense, of consequence to international law, began in the mid-nineteenth century, essentially dominated by the capital exporting countries in Europe and surged dramatically after Second World War, but this time predominately led by the U.S. multinational corporations (MNCs). ...

9. ASEAN’s FTA Negotiations with Dialogue Partners: Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses in Business Opportunities

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pp. 175-208

The past decade has seen a rapid proliferation of regionalism among the Asian economies, which was initiated with the formation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in 1992 and was essentially a free trade agreement (FTA) in goods. Thereafter, in the aftermath of the 1997–98 financial crisis and the inability of the WTO to further the multilateral trade liberalization agenda, ...

10. Conclusion: Towards an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015

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pp. 209-226

The vision of an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 is certainly bold and ambitious. Although there are already building blocks in place such as the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), the ASEAN Investment Area (AIA) and the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS), ASEAN faces a number of daunting challenges in realizing this vision. ...

Index

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pp. 227-242

Contents of Accompanying CD-ROM: AADCP-REPSF Phase I Research Program

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pp. 243-251