The Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN) brings together ten countries with over 620million people and a combined gross domestic product of morethan USD 2.5 trillion. These countries are well integratedinto the global economy and have benefited from thisintegration. And, as evidenced by their adoption of theambitious goal of forming an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)by 2015, they are committed to even deeper regionalintegration. This report takes stock of ASEAN’s achievementsin services integration, delineates the potential gains fromfurther integration and highlights the challenges thatremain. Recognizing the role of services in spurringeconomic growth and job creation, including in manufacturingand agriculture, regional policymakers have committed to anambitious plan for integrating their services sectors as acore element of the AEC. As the report highlights, there aresuccesses in some sectors, such as in health in Thailand,education in Malaysia and finance in Singapore, on whichfuture actions can build. Nevertheless, intra-ASEAN trade inservices remains low relative to the economic size,complementarity and geographical proximity of ASEAN memberstates. As the report notes, there are still a range ofpolicies in ASEAN economies that impede servicesintegration. Overall, the data and analysis show that whilethere has been good progress in making commitments tointegrate services trade, more needs to be done to fullyrealize the goals laid out in the AEC Blueprint. The reportreviews approaches to negotiations and institutionalprocesses underlying services integration. It provides arange of specific recommendations on implementingcommitments, enhancing transparency, and strengthening theinstitutional framework and negotiating modalities. Finally,it highlights priorities for regional regulatory reform andcooperation as a means of deepening services integration.
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