Abstract
The author offers a study on existing ASEAN monitoring systems, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Scorecard and the ASEAN Community Progress Monitoring System (ACPMS). He analyzes the compliance monitoring system, based on the information of the AEC Scorecard, and the outcome-based monitoring system, established from ACPMS. Monitoring compliance comes from collecting information on the ratification, adoption and implementation of regional legislation and administrative acts. According to the author, the AEC Scorecard promotes compliance in itself; it can only assess the process of integration. However, the ACPMS measures the outcomes through a set of indicators that are adapted throughout the years, and releases a statistical report, the ASEAN Community Progress Monitoring System. The author finds that, despite advances in the realm of AEC, many challenges persist. The author concludes with several proposals for improvement.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
ASEAN was established in 1967 by five countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand; collectively known as ASEAN5) mainly for political reason. Since then the Association has expanded to its current ten members (ASEAN5, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam), and has broadened its thrust toward greater economic cooperation, beginning with the Declaration of ASEAN Accord in 1976.
- 2.
The decision to establish an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as an end-goal of regional economic integration was made in Bali, Indonesia during the 16th ASEAN Summit in 2003. AEC is actually one pillar comprising the ASEAN Community, which includes the other two pillars such as the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) and ASEAN Political and Security Community (APSC). In early 2007 the Leaders agreed to develop “a single and coherent blueprint” to implement the AEC, and consequently, the AEC Blueprint was signed in November that same year. To ensure that this Blueprint is implemented on time, the AEC Scorecard was developed in 2008 to track countries’ compliance of their commitments to the AEC Blueprint, as well as to measure the implementation rate of the Blueprint.
- 3.
Monitoring is undertaken by the ASEAN Secretariat through its ASEAN Integration Monitoring Office (AIMO) established in 2010. In developing the Scorecard, AIMO compiles all measures as earlier identified by the various sector bodies in the AEC Scorecard Master Plan. The list is then circulated to all working bodies for validation and approval. The approved list of measures becomes the basis for the scorecard for that particular phase of monitoring.
- 4.
The AEC country scorecards are also developed in a similar way as the AEC Scorecard and consist of country-specific measures identified by the countries themselves. The country scorecards are updated by AIMO through inputs submitted by ASEAN Member States.
- 5.
There are two versions of the AEC Scorecard being prepared by ASEAN Secretariat. The “official” version contains all detailed information about country commitments and specific measures and the rate of compliance. This version is an internal document, updated twice a year and is reported to the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM), ASEAN Economic Community Council (AECC), and ASEAN Leaders’ Summit Meeting. Another version is called a “public” version which is published by ASEC every two years for purposes of informing the general public of the progress and achievements by AEC.
- 6.
One issue about the current AEC Scorecard is the methodology being employed to measure compliance, which is based on a simple “yes” or “no” to determine if a particular measure is fully implemented or not. To enhance the Scorecard, two studies were undertaken by the Economic Research for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) which tried to develop a rigorous methodology and a set of indicators to assess status and progress of integration both at the national and regional levels. The results of the studies were supposed to complement the AEC Scorecard and to assist ASEC in improving it.
- 7.
The ACPMS Framework consists of indicators for AEC and ASCC, respectively. However, since the purpose of this paper is about AEC monitoring, only indicators for economic integration are reported and discussed. For complete list of ASCC indicators, see 2012 ASEAN Community Progress Monitoring System Report.
- 8.
As part of the process of enhancing the framework, extensive consultations with direct users and producers of integration indicators were made, including desk officers from the ASEAN Secretariat, officials from various government agencies in ASEAN, and other stakeholders in the region. The original 21 ACPMS indicators were also reviewed based on their relevance to AEC monitoring as well as feedback received from stakeholders who were involved in actual integration monitoring. Finally, a number of regional integration studies and researches were also reviewed to supplement the findings from consultations and desk review of ACPMS indicators.
- 9.
To construct the ACPMS indicators, data are sourced mainly from ASEAN member states through the various national statistical offices. Data submission by NSOs is made directly to the ASEAN stats at the ASEAN Secretariat. ASEC databases are also used such as those for finance and surveillance, FDI, tariff, services, and tourism. Other sources of data are international organizations such as the World Bank and the IMF, particularly for some indicators where data are only available from these institutions.
- 10.
One such important report is the ASEAN Baseline Report (ABR) published in 2003. The ABR provides indicators across each of the four dimensions of ASEAN Community, namely economic, socio-cultural, political-security, and narrowing development gap, and presents their baseline situation as of 2003. In effect, the ABR is a predecessor of the ACPMS Reports in a sense that both reports contain indicators of integration. The ACPMS Reports, however, re-focus the framework of the indicators and refine/improve them.
References
ACPMS. (2013). Pro-forma Progress Report. Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat.
ASEAN. (2003). Baseline Report (ABR). Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat.
ASEAN. (2012). Community progress monitoring system report. Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rillo, A.D. (2017). Monitoring the ASEAN Economic Community. In: De Lombaerde, P., Saucedo Acosta, E. (eds) Indicator-Based Monitoring of Regional Economic Integration. United Nations University Series on Regionalism, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50860-3_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50860-3_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50858-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50860-3
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)