ASEAN has established mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) on
eight professional services. This paper assesses the progress of these arrangements’
paying special attention to the (i) regional and national implementation, (ii)
national regulatory changes, and (iii) utilization of these frameworks and actual
movement of these professionals in the region. MRAs on Architectural and
Engineering Services have made steady progress, including the setting up of
regional registration systems. This, however, has not resulted in a large-scale
movement of these professionals for many reasons, such as existence of alternative
legal schemes and small additional benefits of ASEAN MRAs. The ASEAN MRA on
Nursing Services, without a regional registration system, has facilitated movement
of nurses in only a few countries. Meanwhile, further efforts in advancing
initiatives closely related to the movement of people are being made: ASEAN
Agreement on the Movement of Natural Persons, ASEAN MRA on Accountancy
Services, ASEAN MRA on Tourism Professionals, and the ASEAN Qualifications
Reference Framework.