BENEFITS

Able to offer bigger market and stay economically competitive

ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)

Region facing competition from China and India, larger markets and lower cost.
Therefore regional integration can help ASEAN members to remain economically
viable. AFTA launched in 1992, aim to remove import taxes among SEA countries,
create regional market of 500 million, and to remove all import taxes by 2015.
Member countries have more ease in doing business within the region.

ASEAN Integration Project (IAI) launched in 2000.

To help narrow economic gap between member countries. Singapore offered a five-
year aid package of over $80 million to other member countries like Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar.

Able to foster social and cultural links to ensure peace in the region

ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)

Created in 1994, to maintain peace by promoting political and security dialogue and
cooperation among countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

To allow for countries in the region to discuss security issues and resolve conflicts
peacefully.

More developed member countries like Singapore are able to share knowledge with
other members. Singapore provided technical training to 1,700 officials from Laos
since 1993. Training included acquiring information technology skills, learning the
English language and handling trade promotions. Singapore also offers the ASEAN
scholarship under the Singapore Cooperation Programme.

Able to cooperate to manage environmental issues

ASEAN allows member countries to manage environmental issues such as haze

through peaceful dialogue. 1997, a Regional Haze Action Plan was devised.
Singapore assisted Indonesia in the monitoring of forest fires through the use of
satellite images. Malaysia concentrates on fire prevention and Indonesia on fire
fighting. Cooperation also in terms of access to data. Data from ASEAN Specialised
Meteorological Centre (ASMC) is now accessible to all ASEAN countries.
Strengthens region’s early warning system for land and forest fires.

LIMITATIONS

Unable to assert itself in terms of human rights issue

Western countries have criticised ASEAN for being too soft in its approach to
promoting human rights and democracy in the junta-led Myanmar. Despite global
outrage at the military crack-down on peaceful protesters in Yangon, ASEAN has
refused to suspend Myanmar as a member and also rejects proposals for economic
sanctions. This has caused concern as the European Union, a potential trade
partner, has refused to conduct free trade negotiations at a regional level for these
political reasons. International observers view it as a "talk shop", which implies that
the organization is "big on words but small on action".

Difficulty in reaching consensus.

ASEAN has agreed to an ASEAN human rights body which will come into force in
2009. The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand want this body to have an
enforcement capacity, however Singapore, Vietnam, Burma, Laos and Cambodia do
not.

Competing interest among members

During the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, several activist groups staged anti-
globalisation and anti-Arroyo rallies. According to the activists, the agenda of
economic integration would negatively affect industries in the Philippines and would
cause thousands of Filipinos to lose their jobs.

Disadvantages of economic integration during Asian Financial Crisis

The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis brought to the fore an emerging irony in ASEAN.
The very integration envisioned and long regarded as a source of strength became a
point of weakness. The financial crisis highlighted how seamlessly interwoven the
fates of the countries of Southeast Asia have become. When the financial crisis
swept the region, all countries were infected. Movements in the exchange rate for the
currency of one country affected the values of the currencies of the other countries.
The level of investor confidence in one economy influenced the level of confidence in
all.

Inability to affect member countries internal problems

ASEAN supports the principle of non-interference; it respects each nation's self-

interest. It tries not to infringe upon national interests in the name of the good for the
region as a whole. As ASEAN supports non-confrontation, it avoids enforcing a
certain value upon such nations to risk a military confrontation, instead it supports
cautious diplomacy.