SUMMARY of AEC BLUEPRINT
AEC Blueprint provides a strategic plan both short and medium terms toward 2015 for ASEAN member states, including strategic schedule with key milestones for a comprehensive and deeper economic integration by 2015. The key characteristics are:
- Ø A SINGLE MARKET AND PRODUCTION BASE
- Free flow of goods
- Through ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), ASEAN has achieved significant progress in the removal of tariffs. However, free flow of goods would require not only zero tariffs but the removal of non-tariff barriers as well.
- Elimination of Tariffs: Tariffs on all intra-ASEAN goods will be eliminated in accordance with the schedules and commitments set out in the CEPT-AFTA Agreement and other relevant Agreements/Protocols.
- Elimination of Non – Tariff Barriers: ASEAN has achieved significant progress in tariff liberalization. The main focus of ASEAN towards 2015 will be placed on the full elimination of non-tariff barriers (NTBs).
- Harmonized and standardized trade and customs, process, procedures and related information flows to reduce transaction costs in ASEAN which will enhance export competitiveness and facilitate the integration of ASEAN into one single market.
- The ASEAN Single Window is an environment where 10 national single windows of individual member states operate, integrate and harmonized as one to enhance trade efficiency and competitiveness.
- Free flow of services
- There will be substantially no restriction to ASEAN services suppliers in providing services and in establishing companies across national border within the region, subject to domestic regulations.
- Free flow of investment
- A free and open investment regime is a key to enhancing ASEAN’s competitiveness in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) as well as intra-ASEAN investment.
- ASEAN investment cooperation is being implemented through the Framework Agreement on the ASEAN Investment Area (AIA). Under the AIA, all industries (in the manufacturing agriculture, fishery, forestry and mining and quarrying sectors and services incidental to these five sectors) shall be open and national treatment granted to investors, with some exceptions as listed in member countries’ Temporary Exclusion Lists (TEL) and Sensitive Lists (SL).
- To enhance regional integration as well as to maintain a competitive investment area, both the Framework Agreement on the AIA and the ASEAN IGA will be reviewed. The objective is to realize a more comprehensive investment agreement which should be forward looking, with improved features, provisions and obligations by considering international best practices that would increase the investor confidence in ASEAN.
- Provide enhanced protection to all investors and their investments to be covered under the comprehensive agreement.
- Provide a more transparent, consistent and predictable investment rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
- Strengthen coordination among government ministries, agencies and ASEAN private sectors to facilitate investment.
- Create the necessary environment to promote all form of investment and new growth areas into ASEAN.
- Extend the benefits of ASEAN industrial cooperation initiatives in addition to the AICO Scheme to encourage regional clusters and production networks.
- Work towards establishing an effective network of bilateral agreements on avoidance of double taxation among ASEAN countries.
- Extend non-discriminatory treatment, including national treatment and most-favoured nation treatment, to investors in ASEAN with limited exceptions, also reduce and eliminate restrictive investment measures, restrictions to entry and other impediments.
- Free flow of capital
- Strengthening ASEAN Capital Market Development and Integration.
- Achieve greater harmonization in capital market standards in ASEAN and facilitate market driven efforts to establish exchange and debt market linkages, including cross-border capital raising activities.
- Allowing greater capital mobility by remove or relax restrictions to facilitate the flows of payments and transfers for current account transactions, also remove or relax restrictions on capital flows to support foreign direct investment and initiatives to promote capital market development.
- Free flow of skilled labour
- Priority Integration Sectors
- Food, Agriculture and Forestry
- Ø COMPETITIVE ECONOMIC REGION
- Competition Policy
- The main objective of the competition policy is to foster a culture of fair competition.
- Endeavour to introduce competition policy in all ASEAN Member Countries by 2015.
- Consumer Protection
- Consumer protection measures are already being developed in tandem with the proposed economic measures to address the already emerging consumer protection.
- Strengthen consumer protection in ASEAN through the establishment of the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Consumer Protection (ACCCP).
- Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
- Regional cooperation in IPR has been guided by the ASEAN IPR Action Plan 2004-2010 and the Work Plan for ASEAN Cooperation on Copyrights which aim to develop a culture of learning and innovation supported by a friendlier IP profile to business, investors, inventors and creators in ASEAN.
- IPR plans are also designed to foster better public awareness, coordination and networking, predictability, capacity building, and contribution of IP industries to competitiveness and development.
- Infrastructure Development
- Transport Cooperation
- The transportation is important for enhancing the attractiveness of the region as a single production, tourism, investment, and narrowing development gaps. It is also critical in linking ASEAN with the neighbouring Northeast and South Asian countries.
- There is a framework to enhance transport facilitation and logistics services, promote multimodal transport infrastructure linkages and connectivity, facilitate transport and tourism integration, also liberalise the air and maritime transport sectors.
- Information Infrastucture
- For sustaining the region’s economic growth and competitiveness, ASEAN has facilitate interconnectivity and technical interoperability among ICT systems, leveraging on existing national networks and evolving these into a regional information infrastructure.
- Improving trust and confidence in the use of the Internet and security of electronic transactions, payments and settlements.
- Develop high-speed inter-connections among all national information infrastructures (NII).
- Encourage and Support all stakeholders (people, communities, enterprises and public administrations) in utilization and development of ICT applications and services on the regional information infrastructures to improve their effectiveness and productivity.
- Financing of Infrastructure Projects
- Promote greater participation of private sectors and international organizations in financing regional infrastructure development.
- Remove or relax impediments to cross-border investment in financing of regional infrastructure projects.
- Taxation
- Complete the network of bilateral agreements on avoidance of double taxation among all Member Countries.
- E– Commerce
- Adopt the policy and legal infrastructure for electronic commerce and enable on-line trade in goods (e-commerce) within ASEAN through the implementation of the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement and based on common reference frameworks.
- Ø EQUITABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- SME Development
- Accelerate the pace of SME development.
- Enhance the competitiveness of ASEAN SMEs by facilitating their access to information, market, human resources development and skills, finance as well as technology.
- Strengthen the resilience of ASEAN SMEs to better withstand adverse macroeconomic and financial difficulties, as well as the challenges of a more liberalized trading environment.
- Increase the contribution of SMEs to the overall economic growth and development of ASEAN as a region.
- Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI)
- The initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), launched in November 2000, gives the direction and sharpens the focus of collective efforts to narrow the development gap. The IAI currently covers the following priority areas, such as infrastructure, human resource development, information and communications technologies (ICT), capacity building for regional economic integration, energy, investment climate, tourism, poverty reduction and improvement in the quality of life.
- Ø INTEGRATION INTO THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
- Coherent Approach Towards External Economic Relations
- ASEAN shall work towards maintaining “ASEAN Centrality” in its external economic relations, including its negotiations for free trade (FTAs) and comprehensive economic partnership (CEPs) agreements.
- Enhanced Participation in Global Supply Networks
- Continuing the adoption of international best practices and standards in production and distribution, where possible.
- Developing a comprehensive package of technical assistance for the less developed ASEAN member Countries to upgrade their industrial capability and productivity to enhance their participation in regional and global integration initiatives.
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