Philippine E-Journals

Establishing the ASEAN Economic Community Through Investment Integration

John Paolo R. Rivera | Beatrice Regina S. Lagdameo

Discipline: Social Science, Political Science, Asian Studies

 

Abstract:

There has been a surge of trade flows, foreign direct investments (FDIs), and monetary flows within and into the ASEAN economic block, brought about by the rapid expansion of inter- and intraregional trade in goods, services, and FDIs via trade and investment liberalization policies, preferential trading arrangements, and the creation of production networks. However, in order to attain a higher share of FDIs relative to previous decades, there is a need to advance the state of investment climate facilitation in the region, despite stiff competition from other destinations. Hegemony can be a viable means to facilitate investment integration because of the ability to harmonize investment incentives within the ASEAN region. This paper aims to open the amendment of the ASEAN charter, emphasizing ASEAN centrality and regional cooperation as a topic of discussion, and explore the possibility of Singapore as the regional benchmark for investment integration.