by Kaisar | Feb 16, 2015 | Consumer Protection, Technical Reports
For the ASEAN Member States (AMSs) to enjoy healthy economic growth, access to the regional consumer market of 600 million people is important. The economic convergence of AMSs necessitates that member countries work together to ensure that the benefits of convergence flow on to consumers as it does to businesses. Regional economic arrangements such as ‘growth triangles’ will impact on consumers in areas like access to products and services and involve issues of quality and costs, among other things. Consumer protection is therefore, a priority agenda of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) that calls for equal commitment of stakeholders to achieve an equitable single market. Consumers, regulators and businesses need to be further equipped to respond to the impact of globalisation such as greater cross-border purchasing, new market trends, varying consumer demographics and increased use of the internet. The digital revolution is transforming the world in which consumers live. This Policy Brief highlights the relevant supports and actions required to achieve the desired state of consumer protection in order to foster confidence in the ASEAN marketplace. Consumers who are well protected will have confidence in the business and the economy as they are assured of getting a fair deal and will have access to redress where necessary. The ASEAN Australia Development Cooperation Program Phase II (AADCP II) commissioned the study on “Roadmapping Capacity Building Needs in Consumer Protection in ASEAN” with the primary objectives as follows: To develop a capacity building roadmap for consumer protection in AMSs and in the ASEAN region, particularly involving the six selected core consumer areas – product safety and labelling, consumer credit and banking,...
by Kaisar | Feb 15, 2015 | Cross Cutting Issues, Technical Reports
Responding to the “The Phnom Penh Agenda 2012” which called for a comprehensive Mid-term Review (MTR) of the IAI Work Plan II, this study has been commissioned to stock-take the implementation of the IAI Work Plan II; map the Work Plan with other sub-regional, multilateral and trilateral development projects/programs; set out concrete and practical measures to expedite the implementation of Work Plan II; and recommend its future direction. The review was timely and important for the future direction of the IAI. Since the formulation of IAI Work Plan II in 2008, the landscape of development cooperation activities in CLMV/Mekong sub-region has significantly changed. This included the emerging of several ASEAN owned initiatives like Master Plan for ASEAN Connectivity, ASEAN Framework for Equitable Economic Development, ASEAN Mekong Basin Development Cooperation, and ASEAN Framework Action Plan on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication. All these initiatives share many things in common with the IAI Work Plan II. In addition, there are now at least a dozen sub-regional fora with the name Mekong which also share IAI goals and objectives and encompass several IAI WP Priority Actions. These changes and development have called for a thorough review of IAI WP II Implementation in regard to its relevance, performance and success as well as the complementarities of other regional/subregional development frameworks with the IAI Work Plan. Downloads Main Report...
by Kaisar | Feb 15, 2015 | Cross Cutting Issues, Technical Reports
An important part of the vision of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is to ensure that the benefits of development and economic integration are equitably shared by all member states and their citizens. ASEAN’s work therefore aims to narrow the development gap between ASEAN member states (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) and between sub-regions within ASEAN. Written by a team of internationally recognised experts in development economics, this book communicates the latest findings on narrowing the development gap in a practical, policy-relevant way, in a format that can influence decision makers within ASEAN member states and international donors. There have been significant development achievements in many ASEAN countries over the last 20 years, but the ASEAN region continues to be characterised by significant development gaps, particularly in income. Gaps in development achievement are also seen at the regional and sub-national levels. This book offers a better understanding of development gaps, as they exist in 2012, and provides important context that can inform the strategic needs of decision makers in the ASEAN region. Due to improvements in conceptualising and measuring well-being, including through the use of multidimensional indicators, this book gives policy makers and scholars in development economics, development policy and Asian studies well-grounded insights into the nature of the development gaps within and between ASEAN countries as well as high-level policy advice on those interventions that can contribute to a narrowing of the development gap. Downloads Synopsis, Chapter Abstracts Policy Brief 1:The ASEAN Development Gap: Definition, Measurement and Monitoring Policy Brief 2: Enhancing Connectivity to Narrow the Development Gap...
by Kaisar | Feb 15, 2015 | Cross Cutting Issues, Technical Reports
The symposium was undertaken as part of a large project focused on the potential to develop an ASEAN-level regulatory reform program. It follows the first ASEAN dialogue on regulatory reform, which was held in 2011 and focused on sharing member country experiences of reform initiatives. It was determined at the time of the initial dialogue that an important focus of this symposium should be on reform activity in the logistics and supply chain connectivity sector. This reflects, in large part, the strongly export-oriented nature of many ASEAN member countries’ economies. Regulatory reform is widely identified as a means of enhancing economic competitiveness and performance, benefiting consumers and citizens and favouring the development of good public governance practices. Within the specific ASEAN context, regulatory reform has particular potential to assist Member States in meeting the challenges of global competition and, more broadly, can support progress in relation to all of the “four pillars” of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The specific purposes of the symposium were to enhance ASEAN Member States’ knowledge and understanding of strategies, issues and approaches in relation to regulatory reform, both in terms of specific activities being undertaken among member countries and, more broadly, in terms of the best practices that have been identified as a result of the extensive experience of a range of OECD Member countries. The symposium therefore included presentations covering reform experiences in relation to logistics and supply chain connectivity in three Member countries, a fourth presentation covering regulatory reform experience in the transport sector in Australia and a presentation on the use of de minimis exemptions from customs procedures (including collection...
by Kaisar | Feb 9, 2015 | Financial Integration, Projects
Status : Completed Within the AEC Blueprint, strengthening ASEAN capital market development and integration is part of the effort to establish ASEAN as a single market and production base by 2015. The development of deep, liquid and efficient capital markets will enable the ASEAN region to channel its huge savings into productive investments and diversify the source of funding for economic development. Bonds and equities account for an increasing share of financial assets in ASEAN, although banks still dominate the region’s financial system. Regional cooperation such as Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI), ASEAN Bond Funds, ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) and ASEAN Working Committee for Capital Market Development (WC-CMD) is aimed at promoting and increasing financial assets in ASEAN. This also demonstrates that policy makers have implemented initiatives and taken steps to increase the scope of capital market as an important channel to economic development in the region. There are still, however, challenges to develop and integrate ASEAN capital markets. These include the diverse level of capital market development across ASEAN Member States (AMS), fragmented capital market in AMS, the small share of institutional and private sector investment in financial assets in ASEAN and the prudence approach adopted by the AMS in integrating the ASEAN capital market. This project provides an in-depth analysis of these challenges by conducting a comprehensive assessment study on the current status of capital market development and integration in each AMS and in ASEAN region. The study engaged with wide range of stakeholders including government institutions, industries, businesses, academia, civil society organization and, particularly, the private sector. It provided recommendations, including a workplan, to the AMS,...
