ASEAN has made significant progress on tariff liberalisation since 1992 when the Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff Scheme (CEPT) was signed. Key to this Agreement is the creation of an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)
The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) recently hosted a ceremony to sign a commitment on the shaping of favourable business environment for enterprises with the administrations of 21 provinces and cities across the country, including Bac Giang, Bac Kan, Bac Ninh, Cao Bang, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Ha Nam, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Lai Chau, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, Phu Tho, Nghe An, Quang Nam, Son La, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang and Vinh Phuc.
There is much anticipation about the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as its target launch date of 31 December 2015 approaches. The AEC aims to establish a regional market economy, creating opportunities for Southeast Asian countries to enjoy reciprocal advantages and leverage the region's collective growth. The AEC Blueprint, signed in 2007, outlines the goals of regional integration, one of which is greater mobility for skilled labor and professionals within Southeast Asia.
While the Western countries are having a slow economic contraction until today, the Eastern countries (Asia) are still showing a sensational economic growth. Aside of Japan that is heavily impacted by global crisis and the last Tsunami catastrophic, other Asian countries are moving forwards with minimal disruption. This new economic powerhouse is heavily influenced by some important players including China, India, Japan, South Korea, and a number of ASEAN countries. Now these countries are hiring for talents aggressively as they are doing business expansion.
January 2013 Abstract: This study evaluates the impacts of liberalization and improved connectivity and facilitation among the ASEAN member countries. This study attempts to evaluate economic impacts of the liberalization in ASEAN by applying economy-wide simulation analysis based on a recursively dynamic CGE model. We conduct policy simulations to capture the impacts of broader regional trade liberalization. Three main components driving the FTAs are to reduce average applied tariffs on goods, to lower barriers to trade in services, and to save time-cost arising relating to logistics. Simulation results reveal that reducing ad valorem equivalents of trade barriers has significantly positive impact on economic welfare. Although there are differences in magnitude of positive contributions to welfare, all of the FTAs of which the ASEAN member countries are participating tend to raise welfare. Among the FTA policy scenarios examined in this study, the ASEAN+6 FTA leads to the largest positive impact on real GDP for most of the ASEAN member countries. Consequently, liberalization reforms among the ASEAN member countries attract more investments into the region both from domestic and foreign households, as well as generating higher volumes of international trade.
The recent establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) could potentially have a significantly positive impact on the global economy. While relatively unheard of on the world stage, one should not discount the role and influence of ASEAN as a region. Since its initial formation in 1967 with just 5 member states – namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, the organisation has since expanded to include Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Cambodia. If seen as a single economic entity, ASEAN would be the world’s 7th largest economy with about 625 million inhabitants, accounting for almost 10% of the world’s population. The region has also seen economic growth average a healthy 4-5% per annum since its formation.
<p>Time: 2024 By: Ministry of Industry and Trade</p>
