ARTICLES

16 Nov 2020

Affirming ASEAN’s East Asian Centrality

Malcolm Cook

The signing of the 15-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is significant, and not only due to the fact that the trade deal will cover a third of the world’s population and GDP. The RCEP also affirms the power of the East Asia concept and ASEAN’s centrality within it.

12 Oct 2020

Act East or Acting? India and ASEAN

Hoang Thi Ha

China is taking action to deepen economic engagement with Southeast Asia. India, despite Prime Minister Modi’s Act East rhetoric, is not.

ASEAN India

21 Sep 2020

ASEAN and the South China Sea Code of Conduct: Raising the Aegis of International Law

Hoang Thi Ha

With Vietnam at the helm of ASEAN this year, the grouping has wielded the aegis of international law to ensure that international and regional concerns about the South China Sea are respected in Code of Conduct negotiations.

ASEAN South China Sea

18 Sep 2020

A Review of the ASEAN Charter: In the Fullness of Time

Sharon Seah

A long-running review of the ASEAN Charter may yet bear fruit – or it may not.

ASEAN

1 Sep 2020

Digital Payments Can Accelerate Master Plan for ASEAN Connectivity

Melinda Martinus

Digital payment systems have proliferated across Southeast Asia, thanks to various platforms provided by banks, ride-hailing apps and fintech firms. For such payments to truly take off, the region needs to work on facilitating cross-border transactions.

ASEAN ASEAN Connectivity ASEAN Master Plan

1 Sep 2020

Non-tariff Barriers to Agri-trade in ASEAN: Taking Down Walls

Sithanonxay Suvannaphakdy

A bid to boost market access for agri-food trade in ASEAN is in jeopardy. Non-tariff measures (NTMs) – policy measures other than tariffs that can potentially hinder trade – have emerged as one of the key obstacles to agri-food trade, namely fisheries and agro-based products. NTMs increase trade costs for producers, importers and exporters through information, compliance and procedural...

Agri-Trade ASEAN Non-Tariff Barriers

17 Aug 2020

Global Value Chains in ASEAN: With Pandemic Comes Opportunity

Gloria Pasadilla

The ensuing Sino-US trade war and the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the moving of global value chains out of China into other regional states such as Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. ASEAN countries should not squander the historic opportunity to grab a bigger market share in such chains.

ASEAN COVID-19 Global Value Chains

12 Aug 2020

The Race for Global Value Chains: Return to RCEP, India?

Tham Siew Yean

Both India and ASEAN are vying for places in shifting global value chains (GVC) affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. India is behind the grouping in GVC participation. One way for New Delhi to play catch-up is to rethink its withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

ASEAN Global Value Chains India RCEP

12 Aug 2020

Finding ASEAN’s Voice Amid the Din of Geopolitics

Hoang Thi Ha

The re-emergence of the “neutrality” term in a recent ASEAN statement shows the underlying tensions between a fallback position based on neutrality and autonomy, as opposed to a more forward “principled neutrality” position based on international law.

ASEAN ASEAN Neutrality ZOPFAN

17 Jul 2020

ASEAN Single Window: Time to Enlarge the Aperture

Sithanonxay Suvannaphakdy

The development of ASEAN Single Window in the past 15 years has demonstrated the importance of digitalizing trade procedures to reduce trade costs and boost competitiveness in ASEAN. The enlargement of the ASEAN Single Window to include the grouping’s dialogue partners will reduce trade costs further.

ASEAN Asean Trade