APEC is a unique organization that promotes economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. It remains an informal intergovernmental organization that provides a useful platform for leaders, ministers, businessmen and experts to discuss regional issues on a regular basis. This book examines APEC’s accomplishments in recent years and the challenges it faces in the new century. These challenges include the proliferation of Free Trade Agreements in the region and the implications of China’s accession in the World Trade Organization.

The proposal for an Asia-Pacific–wide free trade agreement is one of the oldest ideas for promoting mutually beneficial regional cooperation dating back to the mid-1960s. In more recent times, the idea has found new support for two main reasons: as a plan B to the stumbling Doha Development Agenda (DDA) round of WTO negotiations; and as a solution to the noodle bowl of bilateral agreements in the region.This report assesses the political feasibility of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) proposal and looks at alternative modalities for achieving free trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific. The report includes trade policy perspectives from the three largest economies of the region: the United States, China and Japan, lessons from similar proposals such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), possible convergence among the many preferential trade agreements (PTAs) in the region, and alternative approaches to regional economic integration.

Since its founding in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been an increasingly large part of the life of Southeast Asia, although most people in the region know very little about it. ASEAN has helped bring peace and stability to the region. It has successfully engaged the world’s major powers, in East Asia and beyond. ASEAN has taken steps to integrate the regional economy as an important means of cooperatively improving the region’s competitiveness, attracting investments, generating jobs, raising incomes, and lowering costs and prices. ASEAN has also formed networks for dealing with regional problems like communicable diseases, environmental degradation, and transnational crime. An essential part of the Southeast Asia Background Series, this book seeks to shed some light on what ASEAN is all about.

This study argues that the extensive use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would:((1) enhance policy coordination within the intergovernmental organization; (2) promote inclusive regionalism by providing new avenues for broaderstakeholder participation in regional affairs; (3) help develop a stronger regional identity, particularly among the young; and (4) improve "network management" or coordination of the collaborativeactivities of the member states.But this study is not merely about making ASEAN more effective. Bylooking at how ICT - with its ability to overcome distance and time -could be a tool for enabling effective non-state actors in regional rulemaking, it also contributes to the literature on Global eGovernance.

As the regional financial and economic crisis has bottomed out and the ASEAN countries are on the recovery path, this volume seeks to carry out a post-mortem on the crisis to evaluate the sustainability of the recovery and the long-term direction of the ASEAN economies. It also examines the challenges and competitiveness of these economies which have become significant issues in the post-recovery process. Since it is not sufficient to address the economic and financial aspects, the volume also looks at the human and social dimensions, such as food security, poverty, and cross-border pollution. Furthermore, in the wake of the regional crisis, ASEAN has been criticized as being ineffective. This has prompted a re-examination of the relevance of the regional grouping in its present form, evaluating ASEAN's performance, challenges and opportunities and assessing whether there is a need for change.

The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies launched the ASEAN Economic Bulletin in July 1984. Since then, its increasing circulation has demonstrated its value as a forum for exploring aspects of economic and political interaction and co-operation among ASEAN countries, as well as ASEAN's relations with its major trade partners in the world. The Bulletin publishes articles, short papers, and reviews on the economics and political economy of ASEAN and its member countries. It also provides documentation on ASEAN economic development and co-operation, and on research activities relating to the Asia-Pacific region. The Bulletin is published three times a year, in April, August, and December

This book is written in an easily understood style. It explains the background of the orgin of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) of which there are 10 member-countries. The author looks at the progress made, as well as the problems that the association faces.

During the past decade, ASEAN has shifted its focus from political and military security to economic co-operation and development. Although this change may ease the integration of the four mainland Southeast Asian nations -- Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia – into ASEAN, there remain significant challenges to forge a workable and united ten-member ASEAN. This book examines many of the economic, political, and institutional issues confronting the enlarged regional grouping. The volume is organized into three sections based on the perspectives of the region, subregion, and the newer members. It not only addresses ASEAN's enlargement but also contributes to the debate on ASEAN's shifting role in the twenty-first century. 

The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is the only Asia-Pacific-wide forum for consultations and dialogue on political and security issues. Although many articles and books have been published on the ARF, this is one of the few books that treat the forum comprehensively and from the standpoint of the region itself. It traces the ARF's origins, the efforts to move it from confidence building to "preventive diplomacy", and the forces that hold them back, analysing the strategic environment that both constrains the ARF and makes it essential. The book discusses the question of participation, describes the numerous cooperative activities that the participants undertake, and deals with the issue of institutionalization. Finally, it assesses the ARF as a forum and a process on its own terms. The book is written by the former ASEAN Secretary-General and former senior official who was involved in the ARF's early years.

This book, a project of the ASEAN-China Study Programme of ISEAS, is designed to deal with the rapidly expanding economic relations between ASEAN and China in recent years. The fifteen chapters discuss in considerable detail these relations in terms of many important topics such as trade, the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), investments, services trade, energy cooperation, cooperation in developing the Mekong Sub-region, China’s aid to Southeast Asian countries, developing stronger business networks, and the political dimensions of China’s economic relations with ASEAN. The economic challenges, competition, and opportunities in the various sectors of the two economies are examined in the context of the dynamic development of China, and the inevitable globalization taking place nowadays. The book, with contributions from experts in the various topics covered, will be invaluable to businessmen, analysts, academics, students, and policy-makers.