In 2003, ASEAN members put forward the first outline of the ASEAN Economic Community, which further confirmed that the ASEAN Community will be established in 2020. In 2007, at the 13th ASEAN Summit held in Singapore, ASEAN leaders agreed to establish an ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. What is the vision of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015?
Simply put, it is an initiative of ASEAN aimed at transforming the region into a region where goods, services, investment and skilled workers can move freely and capital flows more freely. In a broad sense, ASEAN leaders envision the formation of a partial economic alliance among the 10 member states to usher in a new era of economic cooperation and prosperity.
The four main objectives of the ASEAN Economic Community are:
Unified market and production base.
A highly competitive economic region.
Equal economic development, foreign trade is an integral part of the region.
Integrate into the global economy.
The ASEAN Economic Community will build ASEAN into a single market and production base, formulate new mechanisms and measures, strengthen the implementation of existing economic measures, accelerate regional integration in priority areas, promote the flow of business personnel, skilled workers and talents, and strengthen the institutional framework of ASEAN, the vitality and competitiveness of ASEAN will be enhanced.
As a first step towards the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community, ASEAN has been implementing the recommendations of the High-level working Group on the Integration of the ASEAN economy, which is included in the Bali second Declaration.
At the same time, the ASEAN Economic Community will address the development gap and accelerate the integration of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam through regional initiatives such as the ASEAN Integration Initiative.
The ASEAN Economic Community will also work on other areas of development, such as human resources development and capacity-building, recognition of professional qualifications, close consultation on macroeconomic and financial policies, trade finance measures, strengthening infrastructure and communications connectivity, the development of electronic transactions through e-ASEAN, cross-regional integration of industries to promote regional procurement, and strengthening the participation of the private sector in the development of the ASEAN Economic Community.