ASEAN

[__earth]

The next ASEAN summit will be held in Vientiane, Laos. If all goes well, ASEAN will have a free-trade deal with Australia and New Zealand.

This is an exciting stage for ASEAN as we are currently witnessing a growing ASEAN's influence in trade. ASEAN already have a good economic relationship with ASEAN+3 group, namely China, South Korea and Japan. A FTA with Australia and New Zealand, ASEAN's future is bright. This ASEAN-Australia/NZ FTA also translate to Malaysia-Australia/NZ FTA.

At the same time, the Indian Prime Minister will be there. There is also a plan to invite Russia in next year summit.

[__earth]

What kind of future do you envision for ASEAN?

I personally would like to see something like the EU and one currency zone.

[qedx]

asean doesnt really have strict membership rules like the eu atm does it? and the mentality of the leaders of countries like myanmar, thailand, malaysia... it doesnt really help i think. maybe things will change in the future

[weich]

hmm...not too sure if I'm correct but from what I understand if we have a one currency zone...wouldn't our value of money drop severely? And there could be mass migration, esp. lots would be flocking to Singapore/M'sia to work?

Correct me if I'm wrong =)

[el_empty]

don't think ASEAN is ready for a full-fledged EU model. perhaps a more downsized version relating to immigration rules and regional governance.

ASEAN needs to focus on regional economic cooperation first - help develop the poorer members with investments.

[__earth]

hmm...not too sure if I'm correct but from what I understand if we have a one currency zone...wouldn't our value of money drop severely? And there could be mass migration, esp. lots would be flocking to Singapore/M'sia to work?

Correct me if I'm wrong =)

An one-currency zone won't necessarily make the ringgit depreciate. For instance, the Euro is priced at $1.30 per euro and this means appreciation to most EU countries. A Spaniard peso was certainly valued less than $1.30 per unit peso.

And mass migration would only happen if the borders are opened up. One zone currency does not cause mass migration though it might encourage it. But hey, we need all the labor we can get right?

One currency zone on the other hand may increase intra-ASEAN trade. But if we might might lose the ability to influence the monetary policy.

[masterof_none]

In a short run (uhuh, econs), the ASEAN members really need to focus on one thing : greater trade coorperation with the Asian countries, and later with the rest of the world. I read that South Koreans already sign the trade pact, which is actually good, considering that the Koreans owns billions of dollars of investment in ASEAN countries. this added more money flowing into ASEAN countries.

The most important thing however, is the recognition of the world on how important we are. The EU model is great, but we're not rich enough to attract attention of many. I think the most logical thing is to create a richer trading area, by focusing on skill workers, as well as capital investment. I think the most important thing is to get the ASEAN members to increase the productivity.

The EU model, so far, also in its experimental phase. I heard that a lot of countries failed to maintain their GDP-Debt ratio (including their Big Brother, Germany) in accordance to EU law. EU economy now really still volatile, still looking for its equilibrium , and still accepting new members who are, some of them , quite poor.

But that doesn't mean that it's not a good model. If the EU model is successful, it make up a strong trade block. And for ASEAN to achieve that, it takes more cooperation among member countries to help out each other- helping neighbors who are poor. Just like what's happening in the EU right now.

Regarding immigration, I don't think it's going to be a problem. Because it's just natural for poor people to migrate to richer countries to get good jobs. In fact, the Indons and Bangladeshi already flocking to our countries to work.
So, I don't think it's going to be a big deal, as long as we revise the immigration law, to ensure that the model would result in a win-win situation among member countries.

[chenchow]

I was having a chat with Kenneth Koo, former COO of Citigroup a few days ago. He is now Chief of Staff of Citigroup and report directly to the CEO. He used to give advice to our National Economics Advisory Council (NEAC) a few years ago.

He was mainly talking about ASEAN and China and he sees a great future about ASEAN, but all ASEAN countries would need to loosen up their priority and pride about their particular country.

When those countries, be it Malaysia or Singapore or any other ASEAN countries, when we go to ASEAN meetings, we care about what we, as in our own country, can get, and if some kind of tight body like EU is to be formed, we need to loosen that up.

It would take a long way towards being a close-knit economy, especially there is still a huge disparity of development among ASEAN countries.

However, what has been done has been a good development for ASEAN.

[__earth]

ASEAN needs to focus on regional economic cooperation first - help develop the poorer members with investments.

yup. That is true. But does anybody know what happened to AFTA?

I don't really see the effect of it and it seems that the government is finding ways to bypass it. For instance, the tariff on cars is still there.

[chenchow]

The import tariff for imported car has been reduced by a certain percentage last year, and it would be gradually reduced until 2007 or something like that. It is within the AFTA framework.

Other than that, I think import tax for stuff within ASEAN has been gradually reduced and if I am not wrong, every ASEAN stuff, except for car, would be less than 5% of import tax by 2005.

[chenchow]

This is the link from MITI site regarding Malaysia's compliance with AFTA.

http://www.miti.gov.my/content-afta.html

Under Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) of ASEAN Free Trade Area ( AFTA) , Malaysia is committed to reduce import duties for motor vehicles to 20 per cent effective from 1.1.2005 and subsequently to 0-5 per cent from 1.1.2008 .

PASSENGER CAR

Import duty for ASEAN :
CKD - reduced to 25 per cent for all engine capacity.
CBU - reduced to rates ranging from 70 to 190 per cent based on engine capacity.

Import duty for Non-ASEAN :
CKD - reduced to 35 per cent for all engine capacity.
CBU - reduced to rates ranging from 80 to 200 per cent based on engine capacity.

Excise duty to be imposed on both CKD and CBU imports from ASEAN and Non-ASEAN at rates ranging from 60 to 100 per cent based on engine capacity.
MPV/VAN

Import duty for ASEAN:
CKD - reduced to rates ranging 0 to 10 per cent based on engine capacity.
CBU - reduced to rates ranging from 40 to 120 per cent based on engine capacity.

Import duty for Non-ASEAN :
CKD - reduced to rates ranging from 5 ? 20 per cent based on engine capacity.
CBU - reduced to rates ranging from 60 - 130 per cent based on engine capacity.

Excise duty to be imposed on both CKD and CBU imports from ASEAN and Non-ASEAN at rates ranging from 30 to 90 per cent based on engine capacity.
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE (4WD )

Import duty for ASEAN :
CKD - reduced to 10 per cent for all engine capacity.
CBU - reduced to rates ranging from 40 to 110 per cent based on engine capacity.

Import duty for Non-ASEAN :
CKD - reduced to rates ranging from 20 per cent for all engine capacity.
CBU - reduced to rates ranging from 60 to 130 per cent based on engine capacity.

Excise duty to be imposed on both CKD and CBU imports from ASEAN and Non-ASEAN at rates ranging from 50 to 90 per cent based on engine capacity.
MOTORCYCLE

Import duty for ASEAN :
CKD - no changes to the import duty .
CBU - reduced to 4 0 per cent for all engine capacity.

Import duty for Non-ASEAN :
CKD - no changes to the import duty .
CBU - reduced to 5 0 per cent for all engine capacity.

The current excise duty ranging from 10 to 50 per cent on CKD imports from ASEAN and Non-ASEAN remains unchanged . For CBU , the same rates of excise duty of that of CKD is now imposed based on engine capacity for imports from ASEAN and Non-ASEAN.

Sales tax of 10 per cent for all vehicles remains unchanged .
The new rates for import and excise duty will come into effect from 1.1.2004 . The new duty structure for all categories of vehicles is in Appendix I and II .


http://www.miti.gov.my/new-31dis04.html

[jiinjoo]

AFTA went west.

It's hard to fix the economic disparity problem. Today I read that Gamuda invested US$550m in Laos's hydro power plant - another instance of how money that we have can go to the poorer country in a rich invest in poor kind of pack. US might not want to invest in that project coz firstly they know nuts about Laos, and also they don't know the political / economic stability of that country as much as we do etc. So this can go on, but tere won't be an effort to make everyone equally rich (I think s'poreans will be furious...)

Also in today's headlines, PL spoke http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/11/29/nation/9520297&sec=nation

I think the economic side will come - it's just a matter of time and incentives. When there's money to make people will flock there regardless (even India and Pakistan saw a huge increase in bilateral trade while ths soldiers are still patriolling their borders). The thing I'm more worried about are issues like the junta in Myanmar, where members of the pact see the future in a different light. A regional cooirperation requires homogenity in all aspects as much as possible, because issues have a cascading effect on one another.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/11/29/asia/9520234&sec=asia

My personal interest is e-Asean: http://www.aseansec.org/7659.htm http://www.aseansec.org/4925.htm

[vinkei]

Think ASEAN can work on another front besides economics,
i.e regional security.
There's definitly some potential there, especially in shipping. Come on, the region has a case of piracy and what not.
But I think that may come further down the road, since a number member countries are not exactly 100% ready to tackle the task. With security, money can flow in.

[__earth]

I don't think ASEAN is ready to cooperate in security too much. Everybody seems to have their own problem and they are eager to solve it alone, especially the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

But, ASEAN has just signed a trade treaty with China.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&ncid=731&e=10&u=/ap/20041129/ap_on_re_as/asian_conference

[__earth]

Myanmar is taking over the ASEAN's chair. I must say this is ridiculous because Myanmar has a questionable record on everything.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KLR196069.htm

[noneedname]

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It is better that you leave Malaysia. This country is full of crap. Everything is crap here. There is racism and lots of red tape bureaucracy. Malaysia don't practise meritocracy.

If a bumi is not even capable in comparison with a Chinese or Indians, he will still get all the goodies and left the shit to the other races. I advise the government not to help the stupid bumis but to give equal rights to everyone and also judge a person based on his merits and not his background or race.

If the government continues to help those incapable bumis and not cutting those red tapes, I think Malaysia will not meet its 2020 vision. Also my advise to those bumis: To the Hell with you!!!

There has been a study/survey done to investigate whether Chinese, Indians and Malays are hardworking. They found out that malays are the ones to be lazy. Lazier than Chinese and Indians. They do not have the motivation to strive harder.

Most of Malaysia's success came from the hard work of other races while the malays just reaped the fruits that the Chinese and Indians sowed. The Malaysian government know about this fact and that's how they implemented the bumi's thing ie to protect those bumis from lagging behind the other races.

If you agreed with what I had said, you know that this is making sense. However if you disagree on my views, here is 2 possibilities ---

(1) you are a bumi that is receiving help from the government and hence you don't make any contribution to the society.

(2) you are a corrupted, biased person that is easily influenced, just like our police force. Think about it.




------------

[el_empty]

wtf noneedname, please tell us more about this study:

There has been a study/survey done to investigate whether malays, chinese or indians are hardworking. They found out that Malays are the ones to be lazy. Lazier than chinese and indians. They do not have the motivation to strive harder.

[chenchow]

-------

It is better that you leave malaysia. This country is full of crap. Everything is crap here. There is racism and lots of red tape beuracracy. Malaysia don't practise meritocracy.

If a Bumi is not even capable in comparison with a chinese or indian, he will still get all the goodies and left the sh*t to the other races. I advise the government not to help the stupid Bumis but to give equal rights to everyone and also judge a person based on his merits and not his background or race.

If the government continues to help those incapable Bumis and not cutting those red tapes, i think Malaysia will not meet its 2020 vision. Also my advise to those Bumis : To the Hell with you!!!

There has been a study/survey done to investigate whether malays, chinese or indians are hardworking. They found out that Malays are the ones to be lazy. Lazier than chinese and indians. They do not have the motivation to strive harder.

Most of Malaysia's success came from the hard work of other races while the Malays just reaped the fruits that the indians and chinese sowed. The Malaysian governement know about this fact and that's how they implemented the bumi's thing ie to protect those bumis from lagging behind the other races.

If you agreed with what i had said, you know that this is making sense. However if you disagree on my views, here is 2 possibilities ---
(1) you are a bumi that is receiving help from the government and hence you don't make any contribution to the society.

(2) you are a corrupted, biased person that is easily influenced, just like our police force. Think about it.



noneedname, I disagree with you on many points. First of all, you do not substantiate yourself with actual instances. What you have done, is just like those who complaint non-stop at the coffee shop, and not help anything constructively to improve on the nation.

What makes you think that most bumi is not as capable? Have you ever felt anything for those many bumi who have worked at least as hard as you, or even more. Many of them have succeeded in the real world, and you are just casting aspersions based on your general feelings, ideas or emotions.

And you claim that others are racist etc, and I would like to question your statement "Also my advise to those Bumis : To the Hell with you!!!", isn't it racist? You are not practice what you preach.

How sure are you that most bumi receive help from Government. I have known a great number of bumi, including those here in ReCom.org, who have gone to further their studies based on their own money, own initiative, and not getting even a cent of help from anyone.

To claim that anyone that disagree with you are corrupted and biased person, don't help in building up your credentials here.

Lets discuss these issues here constructively. We are all Malaysians here in ReCom.org and we are here because we care about our country. So, why don't we all discuss these issues civilizedly, but frankly.

[the-model-racist-nation]

__earth: we condone neither blatant racism nor cut and paste trolling activity. Moreover, this is out of topic. We know you share the same IP with noneedname.

[__earth]

Remember the recent ASEAN Summit in KL?

Well, Premier Wen Jiabao and PM Koizumi shared a pen because Koizumi's pen was out of order. But, hey, try reading these two articles.

One from NST (http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/20051215085237/Article/index_html).

FOR 15 minutes, they sat in silence, barely acknowledging each other?s presence.

But there was a slight thaw in the frosty relations between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao as they signed a declaration of the East Asia Summit.

Another one from AP. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051214/ap_on_re_as/china_japan_pen_pals;_ylt=AuiJIg.tUm8o92dXL2QhlV4Bxg8F;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Given the frosty relations between China and Japan, their leaders can't really be pen pals.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made clear his continuing displeasure with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi when he ignored Koizumi's request to borrow his pen during a signing ceremony Wednesday at a regional summit in Malaysia.

POV can be really entertaining sometimes. One event, two different stories.

[topdog]

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/230/captkl12112140540malasiaasiasu.jpg
Wen and Koizumi exhibiting immense self-control in not connecting elbow to the other's chin.

[jiinjoo]

I also understand the ASEAN is gonna move away from non-intervention, to coming up wtih some form of constitution, which will be a basis of interfering another country when breached.

Do you think they are going to put those thorny things like human rights etc. into it?

(topdog: excellent observation - I thuoght they are stressing their face muscles quite a bit too)

[__earth]

Well, they plan to include human rights as one of the fundamentals in ASEAN new charter. So yes.

But I won't be surprise if the charter is a toothless piece of paper. IMO, it won't come anywhere as strong as EU's. I mean, cmon, does any of us really think that ASEAN big members - namely Thailand, Malaysia and especially Singapore give a damn about free speech and all?

[johnleemk]

http://rajanr.com/2005/12/12/early-draft-of-the-asean-constitution/

Rajan Rishyakaran has an early draft of the ASEAN charter. :lol:

Anyway, I too, hope to see ASEAN evolve into something like the EU, improbable as that may be. There needs to be closer economic co-operation among people in the region.