The Straits Times
21 November 2015
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- Media Mentions
- AEC “Can be Powerful Force in 10 to 15 Years”
AEC “Can be Powerful Force in 10 to 15 Years”
The Asean Economic Community (AEC) has the potential to become a “powerful” force but it could take another 10 to 15 years before this is achieved, said OCBC chief executive Samuel Tsien.
Mr Tsien told a forum yesterday that the AEC must become a truly integrated economic community where there is a “comprehensive sharing of resources”.
There are three things to work on to bring this about, he added.
“The maturity of the different economies in AEC has to be on a more even footing with each other, (and there has to be) minimal border control in the movement of goods and services.”
There should be fewer barriers for people to move freely across borders, so that “talent and labour resources can be shared across different economies”, added Mr Tsien, who was speaking at the ST Global Outlook Forum at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.
Mr Ong Keng Yong, executive deputy chairman of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, who is also the former Asean secretary-general, said that the region is still facing the problem of “how to reduce non-tariff barriers” like the rules and regulations relating to borders despite progress being made on scaling back tariffs and creating free trade agreements across Asean.
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Last updated on 01/12/2015
