ASEAN, a Region Not to Miss

Southeast Asia has enjoyed healthy trade with the U.S. and China, while regional trade has grown significantly as well. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), to be full-fledged by the end of 2015, shall further boost trade by reducing import tariffs to zero on all goods among Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

A sweet spot of Asian growth, the 10 members account for more than 630 million people, nearly 9% of world population, with a combined GDP of US$2.1 trillion, comparatively low manufacturing costs and a rising middle class. The IMF forecasts that the ASEAN-5 (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) will grow a combined 5.6% in 2013, compared to 1.7% for the U.S. and -0.6% in the E.U.

ASEAN has already begun negotiating free trade agreements with Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. These will impact $17 trillion of trade and might be inked by the end of 2015.

Can you afford to ignore this golden opportunity? Stay tuned to a&s Asia Corner for more good news.