Beijing, feb 17 (China news service) -- asean should become the world's seventh largest economy over the next 10 years, with a GDP of $4 trillion by 2020, Malaysian prime minister najib razak said recently. This means that asean's GDP is almost double what it is today. Asean's development depends on the establishment and improvement of the asean community.
The asean community consists of the asean political and security community, the asean economic community and the asean socio-cultural community. The asean community is scheduled to be completed on December 31, 2015, with the focus on building the asean economic community (AEC). Xu ningning, co-chair of the china-asean business association and executive director of the china-asean business council, believes that asean faces a major exam in 2015.
Non-tariff barrier is the main problem that restricts trade
The asean economic community will form an economic community that is prosperous, active and highly competitive, as well as a single market and a single production base, with free movement of goods, trade, services, investment and skilled Labour. According to Malaysia's minister of international trade and industry, mustapha, asean will consolidate the regional economy and form a single market similar to the eu by the end of 2015.
At present, asean is endeavouring to narrow the development gap between asean countries and between asean and the world by implementing the asean integration initiative (IAI); We will promote people-to-people, economic and infrastructure connectivity within asean through the implementation of the asean connectivity master plan (MPAC).
Mr Hui said asean would complete the remaining tasks of the 2009-2015 asean community roadmap this year. At present, 10% of the asean community construction plan is not completed, and most of it is the difficulties in community construction.
According to the asean economic community construction schedule, trade among asean countries began to reduce tariffs further in 2015 from January, xu said. Apart from some sensitive products, tariffs are no longer a major issue restraining trade among asean countries. The main issue is non-tariff barriers, which require effective measures to facilitate trade. This year, the building of the asean economic community faces many tasks, such as unifying customs standards, trade guidelines, financial sector liberalization and ensuring investment is protected.
"" in accordance with the requirements of the construction of asean economic community, most countries need to formulate, revise and pass relevant economic laws and regulations, which is a process of institutional construction in which relevant asean countries implement internal reform and opening-up." " "Xu said.
According to a recent survey of 171 multinational companies in south-east Asia, some 56 per cent believe the AEC will be implemented in a few years, while 36.9 per cent think it will take years to implement and only 3.5 per cent think it will be by the end of the year.
The survey showed that the AEC may not be implemented by December 31, 2015, as it was originally scheduled to do, given the three major factors of unstable global economic growth, still low international oil prices and cautious investment market sentiment.
The establishment of the asean economic community will bring a lot of development opportunities to asean members, but it will also face many challenges, xu said. At present, many enterprises in asean countries still lack knowledge about asean economic community, or even are not ready and lack countermeasures.
Asean economies in transition face structural problems
At the end of 2015, asean should not only achieve the goal of building the asean economic community, but also lead the completion of regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) negotiations. However, it is not easy to accomplish these two epoch-making events in regional economic cooperation. Four asean countries are members of the trans-pacific partnership (TPP), which is expected to be formally signed this year. 2015 was a busy year for asean countries.
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