(Road Towards the AEC)
1.Since it was founded nearly 50 years ago, ASEAN has evolved into one of the world’s most dynamic regions with accelerated economic performance in recent years.
2.That has been attributable to ASEAN’s economic co-operation and integration initiatives taking concrete shape over the past two decades.
3.Apart from the ASEAN Preferential Trade Agreement signed in 1977, most regional economic integration initiatives have taken place only since the 1990s.
4.From a historical perspective, the first articulation of the concept of ASEAN economic integration is revealed in the Framework Agreement on Enhancing ASEAN Economic Cooperation signed in Singapore in 1992.
5.The Agreement highlighted the importance of co-operation in the areas of trade; industry, minerals and energy; finance and banking; food, agriculture, and forestry; as well as transport and communications.
6.This Framework Agreement eventually led to the establishment of ASEAN’s earliest key agreements.
7.The Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff Scheme for the ASEAN Free Trade Area was signed in 1992, which was superseded by the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement in 2010, while the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services was signed in 1995.
8.ASEAN had also put in place a number of investmentfocused agreements: the ASEAN Investment Guarantee Agreement (ASEAN IGA) and the Framework Agreement on ASEAN Investment Area (AIA Framework Agreement), later, superseded by the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement, which came into effect in 2012.
9.It was not until 2003, at the 9th ASEAN Summit, that ASEAN Leaders first declared the formation of an ‘ASEAN Economic Community’ as the agreed goal of regional economic integration, as stated in the Bali Concord II.
10.This was in line with the ASEAN Vision 2020 (adopted in 1997), which aimed to transform ASEAN into a stable, prosperous and highly-competitive region with equitable economic development, reduced poverty, and socio-economic disparities, progressing in tandem with the establishment of the ASEAN Political Security Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.
11.The AEC Blueprint 2015 was initiated at the 38th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM) in Kuala Lumpur.
12.The AEM agreed to develop a single and coherent plan progressing step by step to the AEC.
13.In essence, this was undertaken by identifying the characteristics and elements of the AEC consistent with the Bali Concord II, involving clear targets and timelines for implementation, while taking into account ASEAN Member States’ varying levels of development.
14. 2 | A Blueprint for Growth ASEAN Economic Community 2015: Progress and Key Achievements | 3 A Blueprint for Growth ASEAN Economic Community 2015: Progress and Key Achievements AEC Milestones 2016-2025 2015 End 2015 Formal Establishment of the AEC AEC Blueprint 2025 2012 ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) entry into force 2008 ASEAN Charter 1997 ASEAN Vision 2020 1993 ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) entry into force 1967 Birth of ASEAN 2010 ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) entry into force 2007 Jan 2007 Cebu Declaration (accelerate timeline to 2015) Nov 2007 AEC Blueprint 2003 Bali Concord II (ASEAN Community) 1995 ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) signed 1977 Agreement on ASEAN Preferential Trading Arrangements In January 2007, at the 12th ASEAN Summit, ASEAN Leaders collectively agreed to accelerate the establishment of the ASEAN Community from 2020 to 2015, as formally articulated in the Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of the Establishment of ASEAN Community by 2015.