by Kaisar | Apr 20, 2015 | Investment, Projects
Status: ongoing Following successful completion of the Promoting ACIA project in 2013, ASEAN Member States agreed there is a need to hold more ACIA forums/events for investors and businesses, and seminars for the AMS to develop further awareness and understanding of ACIA. As such, this project undertakes further socialization activities for the ACIA across ASEAN Member States, with the support of host governments and business chambers, where possible. The project will also conduct additional seminars for government officials as part of a continuous learning process for Investment Promotion Agencies and will also include officials involved in the implementation of ACIA and negotiation of investment agreements. Related Project: Promoting the ACIA...
by Kaisar | Apr 20, 2015 | Monitoring & Evaluation, Projects
Status: Completed The Roadmap for the ASEAN Community (2009-2015) comprised blueprints to guide the timely implementation of ASEAN’s regional integration agenda. Different mechanisms were utilised to monitor the progress of these integration efforts, including the Community Scorecards and other sector-specific monitoring and surveillance tools. The ASEAN Community Progress Monitoring System (ACPMS) is intended to complement the other monitoring tools in tracking the progress of the ASEAN Community building efforts. As the ACPMS covers broad areas of economic, socio-cultural, and the Millennium Development Goals, the enhanced framework and descriptive indicators of the measured outcomes on the envisaged characteristics of ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community pillars were presented. The two (2) previous editions of the ACPMS have been well received and this prompted the ASEAN Community Statistical System (ACSS) Committee to commit its support for its regular publication. As such, it is necessary to address the bottlenecks that affect its compilation, particularly those at the national level. It would also be worthwhile to consider how the ACPMS can be further enhanced especially in the context of the ASEAN Community 2025 vision and agenda, which will be launched at the 27th ASEAN Summit in November 2015. This project intends to establish mechanisms to enhance data collection, compilation and dissemination of the ACPMS, as well as a utilization strategy to generate awareness of the ACPMS and advocate its use to a wider audience. These actions are expected to address the previous issues and challenges experienced in the publication of the ACPMS 2012 and design developmental works to ensure the sustainability of the ACPMS national data collection and to promote its purpose...
by Kaisar | Apr 20, 2015 | IAI/NDG, Projects
Status: Completed. The Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) provides a policy framework to support the participation of ASEAN’s newer member states (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam or CLMV) in the ASEAN integration process. The IAI Work Plan II (2009-2015) currently being implemented reflects key programme areas under the three ASEAN Community Blueprints. The IAI Work Plan II is now in its last year of implementation. This project supports formulation of third IAI Work Plan. The third IAI Work Plan takes into consideration the strengths and weaknesses in the drafting process and implementation of the current and past Work Plans, as well as the relevant recommendations of the mid-term review of the IAI Work Plan II. The IAI Work Plan III has now been completed, and adopted at the 28th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The project also supported preparation of concept papers for the implementation of activities in the IAI Work Plan III. The IAI Work Plan III can be downloaded here. Related Project: Mid-Term Review of the Implementation of the IAI Work Plan II for Equitable Economic Development and Narrowing the Development Gap Implementation Review of IAI Work Plan...
by Kaisar | Apr 20, 2015 | Consumer Protection, Projects
Status: completed. Consumer protection in the ASEAN region is important for the smooth functioning of an integrated market. Consumer protection is seen to benefit consumers by ensuring that they have the right of access to adequate information to enable them to make informed choices about the products and services that they procure; there are adequate mechanisms in place that promote product safety; and effective complaint and redress mechanisms in cases of complaints. Meeting these needs could be facilitated by effective and operational consumer protection laws and mechanisms. The focus of the ASEAN Committee on Consumer Protection’s (ACCP) work during the period 2011-2015 has been on ensuring that consumer legislation in ASEAN Member States (AMS) is in place; enhancing consumer access to information by developing a notification and information exchange mechanism for recalled/banned products; developing models for cross border consumer redress mechanism; strengthening the capacity of consumer protection officials and enhancing advocacy of consumer protection. However, as AEC 2015 approaches, there is a need to undertake a study to assess the current progress of the action plans in terms of advancing the focus areas and draw up a new Strategic ASEAN Action Plan on Consumer Protection (SAAPCP) covering the period 2016-2025 (following a decision of the High-Level Task Force on Economic Integration). ASEAN is working on a post-2015 ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) vision that envisages a 10-year framework (AEC 2025) that promotes an integrated and highly cohesive economy that is competitive, innovative and dynamic. This project produced an assessment report providing a view of the ASEAN economic landscape in the next ten years, including consumer trends, spending patterns that would have...
by Kaisar | Apr 20, 2015 | Connectivity, Projects
Status: Completed. Effective outreach and communications strategies to ASEAN stakeholders are essential to translate ASEAN’s visions and initiatives of Connectivity into actions and benefits to ASEAN peoples. As online communities increase in size, number, and character, it is crucial for ASEAN to recognise the growing importance of these new communications channels. Understanding how and why these channels work allows ASEAN to craft a coordinated, consistent response on ASEAN Connectivity that reaches the right people with the right content in the right setting. That generates an exponentially greater impact on ASEAN’s stakeholders. However, there are limited online materials related to ASEAN Connectivity that are spread amongst materials for other programs and projects. Additionally, much of the content for ASEAN Connectivity is not written in an optimal way in which stakeholders will find appealing. This makes it difficult not only for users to find content and to learn about ASEAN Connectivity, but also leaves little room for ASEAN Connectivity to have influence on stakeholders. This project developed a set of videos on the Master Plan for ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 and ASEAN Connectivity microsite which provides various materials and information related to ASEAN Connectivity. Videos: Introduction to the ASEAN Connectivity microsite Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025: Connecting a Region Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025: Regulatory Excellence Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025: Digital Innovation Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025: People Mobility Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025: Seamless Logistics Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025: Sustainable Infrastructure Related Project: Strengthening Communication on ASEAN...
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,...
