In an age in which it is increasingly necessary for nations to consider their competitiveness and at a time when the world economy is facing recession, this book explores the possible trajectory of ASEAN arguably one of the most dynamic areas in the world as a regional economic and political bloc. This important and timely study focuses on the role of foreign direct investment in advancing the performance of ASEAN and the competitiveness of its firms, whereas other studies typically focus solely on the role of trade. The expert contributors an interdisciplinary assembly of economists, lawyers and political scientists present a comprehensive view of ASEAN s experiences over the past decade, addressing the industrial competitiveness of ASEAN and analysing the role of MNEs against the background of the challenges of integration. They illustrate that regional integration will only be a success if ASEAN s linkages are broadened with global partners through negotiations of Free Trade Agreements. The book concludes that although much still remains to be done, and many promises are still to be unveiled, ASEAN s coming of age is an historic milestone. Competitiveness of the ASEAN Countries will appeal to a broad readership including students, academics and researchers with an interest in Asian studies, international business, international economics and international law.

The ten countries in the ASEAN region account for approximately 5% of world gross domestic product and 8% of world population and represent the most diverse group of nations in terms of the level of prosperity, political system, culture, language, and history. This diversity in ASEAN not only helps us understand the notion of national competitiveness, but also provides important policy lessons for both developed and developing countries. This book - a collection of essays - provides insights on competitiveness challenges and policies. It provides an excellent overview of competitiveness for a group of countries at various stages of development. Written in a simple and accessible manner, this book will be of interest to students, researchers, business executives and government officials.

This book is important from the public policy and foreign investment points of view and should be read by all who need to understand the competitive policies in the ASEAN Countries. As the author has rightly pointed out, the narrow capitalistic model to maximize profits even at the expense of income distribution, has been modified in ASEAN countries, to take into account the need for equity and distributive justice. The socio economic strategy has been essential, to pomote political stability, without which there cannot be economic growth and development. The book argues impressively that competition policy cannot be unfettered, but has to be efficiently and compassionately managed, to ensure balanced business and steady socioeconomic development. Competitive policies have to follow the best interests of developing economies and not just the pressures and preferences of the capitalistic competitive policies of the highly developed industrial countries, that often ignore the different priorities of developing countries.

While economic globalization benefited Southeast Asia, especially during the 1990s boom, the region now seems to be caught between two emerging economic giants - China and India. What challenges and opportunities does the rise of China and India pose for Southeast Asia and how should policy-makers respond? Are bilateral free trade arrangements and bilateral economic partnerships a boon or bane for competitiveness? In identifying approaches and strategies to coping with these challenges and leveraging on the opportunities available, this book also links the quest for competitiveness with the necessity of social protection. The link comes in the form of the people who work for firms as human resources, and as users and innovators of technology. The book acknowledges and discusses the problems of inadequate technological and innovative capacity and the problems of managing labour productivity in Southeast Asia. However, the book also cautions against focusing on people solely as productive labour, whether in production or the knowledge sector. By highlighting the adverse social, economic and political consequences of ignoring social protection issues and challenging the myth that addressing social protection undermines competitiveness, the book emphasizes the social responsibilities incumbent on governments and firms in this age of growing economic insecurities.

The SME Policy Index is a benchmarking tool for emerging economies to monitor and evaluate progress in policies that support small and medium-sized enterprises.

In the midst of turbulence in the international trade, this book titled Annual Competitiveness Analysis and Impact Estimation of Exchange Rates on Trade in Value-Added of ASEAN Economies provides a comprehensive overview on recent developments and policy initiatives in ASEAN, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses in facing the trade disruption from global events such as the US-China trade dispute, the rise of protectionist sentiments, and the expansion of China's Belt and Road Initiative.This sixth instalment features an update on ACI's annual competitiveness index for ASEAN-10 economies. Using a total of 121 indicators, the study analyses the competitiveness of the 10 ASEAN countries across four environments namely (i) Macroeconomic Stability, (ii) Government and Institutional Setting, (iii) Financial, Businesses and Manpower Conditions, and (iv) Quality of Life and Infrastructure Development.Also in this book is an in-depth coverage on trade, a key component of the ASEAN economy, and the integration of ASEAN into wider value chains. This phenomenon heavily features ongoing efforts to develop ASEAN and creates the need for a deeper understanding of the impact of these global value chains on trade in ASEAN. This book examines and provides empirical insights on the impact of real effective exchange rates on exports in ASEAN economies within the context of increased participation in global value chains. The findings have direct policy implications in the management of monetary policy.Additionally, this book provides an extensive discussion on the impact of the US-China Trade War on ASEAN, presenting the background analysis on the annals of the dispute as well as examining determining factors that may positively or negatively affect the trade and investment landscape in ASEAN. This latest edition also features a compilation of speeches and writings by academics and policymakers on key issues and development of ASEAN. It includes a speech by Minister Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance on the importance of infrastructure development for economic competitiveness. On top of that, this book also features an essay by Mr Bilahari Kausikan, Chairman of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, and former Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, which addresses the impact of the US-China trade war on ASEAN.

This book provides an overview of evolving patterns of trade partnership with historical perspective. It presents changing requirements of industry competitiveness and explains the vital relationships between trade partnerships and industry competitiveness. As well, it further examines the interactive relationships between trade partnerships and industry competitiveness. In recent years, with decreasing strategic alliances among nations and less visibility of international governance mechanisms (e.g., WTO) and counter to globalization, preferential trade agreements and free-trade agreements have proliferated among nations. At the same time, industrial competitiveness is becoming a serious strategic policy priority of nations—both advanced and emerging economies. Theoretical discussion focuses on the practices of global network capabilities for the top of the pyramid (ToP) and base of the pyramid (BoP). Special focus is on trade partnerships and industry competitiveness in the Asian economies (China, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia), three ASEAN nations (Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia), and Mexico. Extensive industry and firm-level case studies discuss ToP and BoP interface capabilities in the form of manufacturing and services life-cycle management, which extends value creation and delivery of manufacturing and services. This extension integrates the cloud ecosystem, such as timely data/information/knowledge flows via the virtual world; and ground value chains, such as the flow of complex real goods and services in the visible world.

Competitiveness of a country requires continuous upgrading and, sometimes, major transformation. Thailand is at the crossroad. It can no longer pursue a strategy based on low-cost advantages, but its capability achievements are still too low to become an advanced economy. This book points out weaknesses of Thailand's national innovation system or education and suggests how the country should develop new capabilities to survive and prosper in the globalized and fiercely competitive world. It will be useful to researchers and students who want to learn more about Thailand and emerging countries, and also to policy-makers and executives involved in economic and industrial development. Co-published with IRASEC (Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia), Bangkok