The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has set an ambitious goal to integrate the economies of its ten members by 2015, a move that is aimed at boosting the bloc’s competitiveness and creating development across the region that is more equitable. With the target date for Southeast Asia’s countries to create a single economic market just months away, increasing attention is being paid to the region’s vast economic potential.
UNLEASHING ASEAN’S POTENTIAL THROUGH AEC
Rising affluence and an expanding middle class, accompanied by a demographic dividend and an abundance of resources, will see ASEAN become one of the world’s largest integrated economic communities.
