I already like the current set up, especially the visa-free entry to visit any of the nine other members of the 10 member-countries of the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) for visits less than 30 days, or less than 15 days in some countries. Thus, it is very convenient for me and other Filipinos to visit Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Hanoi, Bangkok and other cities in the region.
Once the AEC materializes, the flow of economic activities and movement of people among residents of the 10 countries will become even easier and simpler.
Economic freedom, people mobility across countries. To a certain extent, they are "ends" by themselves in terms of public policy. The challenge to advocates of free market and economic freedom is how to further expand this to cover not only our region but also to the whole Asian continent and later on, to the rest of the world.
Here are two new articles from EFN website.
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Tuesday, 23 July 2013 13:16
Bangkok, Thailand
The event is full with top ASEAN business leaders. They
discussed broadly about the future of Asia, especially ASEAN, with the 2015
launch of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) expected to present huge economic
opportunities for businesses both within the group's 10 member countries and
beyond.
These top business figures include Kyoichi Tanada,
president of Toyota Motor Thailand, Chartsiri Sophonpanich, president of
Bangkok Bank, Timothy Ong Teck Mong, chairman of Asia Inc Forum of Brunei, Ngo
Thanh Tung, chairman of Vietnam International Law Firm, Paul Blanche-Horgan,
chief executive officer at Ezecom Corp from Cambodia, U Zaw Zaw, chairman of
Max Myanmar Group, and many others, with Suthichai Yoon, Nation
Multimedia Group chairman, the host of the event and also the moderator in the
discussion.
"Business Visions 2020" was the main idea of
the discussion. These high-profile executives from all over the region shared
their ideas on business perspectives, trends and the opportunities that lie ahead
once the AEC starts in 2015. Nevertheless, several issues still have to be
addressed. With so diverse cultures, rules and regulations, a number of
obstacles will have to be overcome if the region's economies are to be
integrated into a single market. In particular, social inequality, local administration,
governance and a number of other key issues will have to be tackled.
Timothy Ong Teck Mong from Brunei made several good arguments about the difference of ASEAN countries, yet the potential after better integration is huge.
For example, getting construction permits in Singapore
took about 26 days; 110 days in Vietnam; and 652 days in Cambodia. In addition,
applications for business start-ups in Singapore took three days; 47 days in
Jakarta; and 101 days in Brunei and Indonesia.
More importantly, he said, the gap between Asean's
poorest and its wealthiest citizens, measured in terms of per-capita GDP, was
huge - a factor of almost 16, compared to a factor of just two in the European
Union.
Business leaders agreed that other key factors for
continued growth include good governance in both the corporate and state
sectors, and social responsibility among Asian entrepreneurs to ensure that all
members of society benefit.
Friday, 12 July 2013 14:05
By Razeen Sally
Policy Analysis No. 725 from Cato Institute
The global financial crisis reinforced a sense that the
world is "shifting East"—to Asia. The essential story of modern Asia
is its unprecedented expansion of economic freedom, enabled by market
liberalization. Economic freedom, however, remains substantially repressed
across the region.
There are three key policy challenges to expanding
economic freedom in Asia today. The first is to open up financial markets,
which remain backward and repressed by command economy controls. The second is
to renew trade and foreign-investment liberalization, which has stalled since
the Asian crisis of the late 1990s. And the third is to open up energy markets,
which, even more than financial markets, are throttled by government
interventions.
Increasing Asian consumption of fossil fuels will increase
carbon emissions. Mainstream advocacy of carbon reduction in Asia should be met
with skepticism, given its potential to lower growth substantially. A far
better approach is one based on adaptation to global warming through
market-based efficiency measures.
Asia’s poorer economies should concentrate on
"getting the basics right" for "catch-up" growth. These are
"first-generation" reforms of macroeconomic stabilization and market
liberalization. Asia’s middle- and high-income economies need to focus also on
"second-generation" reforms—more complex structural and institutional
reforms to boost competition and innovation. Diverse political systems can
deliver catch up growth. But autocracies are badly fitted to deliver
second-generation reforms for productivity- led growth. The latter demands a
tighter link between political and economic freedoms.
The Asian miracle is not the product of superior
technocratic minds who concocted successful industrial policies. Rather,
freedom and prosperity bloomed on Asian soil because government interventions
were curtailed and markets unleashed. Classical liberalism, however partially
implemented, has worked in Asia. It is a system to which Asians should aspire.
Please see original website for full analysis:
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See also:
EFN Asia 21: On Think Tank Independence, Jeju Forum, May 31, 2013
EFN Asia 22: Dealing with Economic Nationalism, Jeju Forum, June 03, 2013
EFN Asia 23: More Photos at Jeju Forum, June 06, 2013
EFN Asia 24: Jim Rogers talk at Jeju Forum, June 10, 2013
1 comment:
ASEAN countries should work together for further development to lessen unemployment rate.
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