ASEAN Services Integration Report

5-Nov-2015

Source:  ASEAN Secretariat News

ASEAN Services Integration Report

The ASEAN Services Integration Report (ASIR) is one of the key deliverables of the ASEAN Community Monitoring and Evaluation Program (AECMEP), a four-year collaborative program that concludes in 2015 between the ASEAN Secretariat and the World Bank with support from the ASEAN-Australia Development Cooperation Program Phase II.

This Report focuses on services integration within ASEAN and is timely for two reasons. First, the year 2015 is a milestone year for ASEAN with the much anticipated formal establishment of the AEC for which addressing services integration is high on the agenda. Second, ASEAN is now discussing a new services integration agreement to enhance the existing ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) under the post-2015 agenda.

Recognising the increasing importance of services to the AEC and to global value chain participation, ASIR takes stock of ASEAN's achievements in services integration, including a detailed and focused assessment of ASEAN services policies; delineates the potential gains from further integration; and highlights remaining challenges. ASIR also puts forward recommendations for further development of the ASEAN services agenda more broadly for post-2015. In particular, it suggests that there are areas beyond the services liberalisation commitments for which integration can be deepened and the benefits maximised, such as regulatory cooperation.

ASIR will contribute to the ongoing discourse on services integration within ASEAN and regional economic integration more broadly, and help inform policymaking aimed at enhancing regional cooperation.

To download ASIR, click here.