It is tempting to criticise ASEAN because
of its shortcomings, but can we imagine a
peaceful and stable Southeast Asia without
it? Southeast Asia will be less able to manage
external influences, less competitive, more
expensive to do business in and more
dangerous to live in without the regional bloc.
Instead, we might have a region fragmented
by religion, ethnicity and geography. Member
states might work with external powers to
preserve their own interests. There could
be increased foreign influence to help
maintain peace and stability. Defence budgets
could very well soar. Limited exchanges of
information might hamper member states
tackling terrorism, natural disasters and
pandemic outbreaks on their own. (Southeast
Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions
of the world to natural disasters.) Without
ASEAN cooperation and coordination,
there would be no network of humanitarian
assistance and disaster relief, and no dialogue
partners like America, Japan, Australia and
New Zealand to assist in emergency situations.
ASEAN has focused on economic
integration, with import and export tariffs
reduced or eliminated based on free trade
agreements. Without the grouping, restrictive
regimes make it more complicated and
time-consuming to move professional workers
across the region and for multinational
companies to set up ASEAN-wide production
chains. Without the ASEAN Economic
Community, regional production bases – such
as auto manufacturers producing different
motor vehicles and component parts in
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand
and Vietnam – would no longer be viable.
Jobs could vanish. Businesses could no longer
access free online information on cross-
border customs processes and procedures,
and the lack of information and transparency
in business activities could affect the private
sector, especially small and medium-sized
enterprises dependent on ASEAN for survival.
For example, the region’s growing café culture
may never have sprung up as quickly as it did
without ASEAN’s lower tariffs on coffee bean
imports. And without ASEAN, Southeast Asia
cannot adjust itself expeditiously to the digital,
inclusive and sharing community without its
regional knowledge of what is transforming
industry, trade and world development.
At the beginning, ASEAN was a smaller
grouping of five anti-communist countries. It
was political ideology and forceful leadership
that motivated ASEAN’s diverse member
states to work collectively to tackle common
challenges. None of them wanted to be alone
in dealing with the major powers wanting
to dominate Southeast Asia for their own
interests. Today, the world’s eyes are on
ASEAN because it is a region with a promising
future. Geopolitics in the region have shifted
with a risen China and a distracted US, and to
be sure, ASEAN member states are diverse:
Their culture, ethnicity, history and politics are
all different. Yet there is an energy to cooperate
and collaborate with one another. The bloc has
demonstrated its ingenuity by hanging together
and keeping peace in the neighbourhood.“Can we imagine a peaceful
and stable Southeast Asia
without ASEAN?”
Ong Keng Yong
Secretary-General of ASEAN, Jan 2003–Jan 2008
Executive Deputy Chairman, S. Rajaratnam School
of International StudiesASeAn economy
2018 GDP:
USD2.6 trillion
GDP per capita:
USD4,000
DATA SOURCE: ASEAN STATS2018 : ASEAN is the 6th
largest world economy2030 : ASEAN is set
to be the 4th largest
world economy