ASEAN Community at the Top of the Agenda for 2015 Summit

Channel NewsAsia

25 April 2015

SINGAPORE: ASEAN Community 2015 is expected to be at the top of the agenda at this year’s ASEAN Summit. It is hoped that by the end of this year, ASEAN Community 2015 will no longer be a slogan, but a reality the region will need to embrace.

It is an ambitious plan, covering three pillars – the ASEAN Economic Community, Political-Security Community and Socio-Cultural Community.

Economic integration has been a key focus over the years – analysts say while the ASEAN Economic Community targets have been set, the question is whether members can meet them.

They added that it is not just about elimination of tariffs, but removing non-tariff barriers as well. These include things like infrastructure, communication lines and even the quality of manpower.

… Dr Tan See Seng, deputy director and head of research for the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said: “For a regional community that is substantive, you can’t do without that socio-cultural. What that essentially means is getting the level of civil society across the board, across ASEAN countries to co-hear, to come together, to be engaging one another as it were.

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Last updated on 23/11/2015