Panel Session II - ASEAN's experience of regional integration and Community-building
Rodolfo C. Severino is the head of the ASEAN Studies Centre at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore and a frequent speaker at international conferences in Asia and Europe. Having been Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from 1998 to 2002, he has completed a book, entitled Southeast Asia in Search of an ASEAN Community and published by ISEAS, on issues facing ASEAN. He has produced a book on ASEAN in ISEAS??Southeast Asia Background Series and one on the ASEAN Regional Forum. Severino is currently working on a book on the Philippine national territory. He has co-edited two books: Whither the Philippines in the 21st Century? and Southeast Asia in a New Era, which is intended for pre-university students. He writes articles for journals and for the press. Before being ASEAN Secretary-General, Severino was Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, the culmination of 32 years in the Philippine
Foreign Service. He twice served as ASEAN Senior Official for the Philippines. Severino has a Bachelor of Arts degree in the humanities from the Ateneo de Manila
and a Master of Arts degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
ASEAN's Role in East Asian Regionalism: Manager or Leader?
East Asia - Northeast (China, Japan and South Korea) and Southeast Asia -- has been, taken together, undergoing a surge of economic growth and economic integration rarely seen in the history of nations. It is important to note that that growth has been driven by national policies and decisions and that that integration has been brought about by market forces rather than by inter-governmental agreements. It is also important to recall that Southeast Asia is extremely diverse not only in terms of ethnicity, culture, religion, political, economic and social systems, and colonial as well as pre- and post-colonial legacies, but also in stages of economic development. Moreover, ASEAN is an association of ten sovereign states, each driven by its own national, regime or the ruler's personal interests. Yet, states in East Asia have sought to cooperate with one another in order, each in its own way, to avoid conflict, deepen economic integration, maintain high economic growth rates, and deal with regional problems that threaten them all. ASEAN has all along been at the heart of these efforts. However, can ASEAN and its members stay in this position without strengthening and expanding their own political cohesion, deepening their economic integration by fulfilling the commitments that they have made to one another, and more cooperatively addressing threats across national boundaries? ASEAN has done well in managing East Asian regionalism. Is there an alternative to ASEAN and can it do as well in exerting leadership in it?
Dr. Vo Tri Thanh is currently the Vice President of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM). He holds a Master degree in Economics and a PhD degree in Economics both from the Australian National University. Dr. Vo Tri Thanh has undertaken extensive research and provided consultation on issues related to trade liberalization, regional economic integration, financial development and macroeconomic policies. His other areas of interests include institutional reforms and economic development.
COUNTING DOWN TO 2015: Progress towards AEC and Perspectives of Vietnam
ASEAN member countries have been ambitious about their targets for an economic community with smaller intra-regional development gap. However, rapid tariff reduction is seemingly their single most notable achievement. With the approaching deadline of 2015 which threatens the realization of a ?�true??single market and common production base, ASEAN economic integration needs a crucial breakthrough with effective commitment enforcement, improved connectivity, and active participation of the people, and social and business communities. From Vietnam?�s perspective, ASEAN integration is of vital importance. FDI and trade relations between ASEAN and Vietnam have been significantly enhanced, largely due to the latter?�s serious implementation of ASEAN integration commitments. Yet there still exists a room for further meaningful liberalization. Vietnam has to address several challenges related to the ?�low-cost labor trap?? harmonize integration tracks, and minimize socio-economic and costs during integration process.
H.E. Amb. Ngurah Swajaya joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1986, and got received his first assignment as Third Secretary to the Indonesian Embassy to the Federal Republic of Germany, in Bonn from 1991-1995. He was later assigned to the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations in New York from 1999-2003. He had also served as the Director for Multilateral Economic and Environment Cooperation and the Director for ASEAN Political-Security Cooperation. He was Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia in 2009 and since May 2010 he was appointed as Ambassador/Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia to ASEAN.
During Indonesia's Chairmanship to ASEAN in 2011, he served as the Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR) as well as the chair of the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC). As Permanent Representative to ASEAN, he also serves as member of the Board of Trustees of the ASEAN Foundation. Ambassador Ngurah Swajaya holds a law degree from Universitas Udayana and a masters' degree from the Fletcher's School of Diplomacy at Tufts University. He had also written numerous articles for various newspapers and gives lecture at many universities in Indonesia and abroad.
