ASEAN has a goal to create an economic community by 2015. To achieve the goal, connectivity among the member states needs to be given due importance. In 2010, ASEAN adopted the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC), which looked at physical, institutional and people-to-people connectivity. It pinned down fifteen priority projects which can potentially transform the ASEAN region, providing the conditions for a single market and production base. But MPAC is an expensive initiative, and funding remains a major challenge. The private sector needs to be actively involved as a number of infrastructure projects identified in the MPAC are lacking substantial investment. This book looks at the current state of ASEAN's physical connectivity and challenges in building better infrastructure. It contains a collection of papers that discuss specific issues pertaining to each kind of physical connectivity - transportation infrastructure, telecom connectivity, ICT and energy infrastructure. The book concludes with the steps needed to be taken for implementation of the various plans, and policy recommendations.

Since 2019, Network of ASEAN-China Think-tanks (NACT) has been publishing joint researches of all its Working Groups. This book is a collection of research papers contributed by ASEAN and China scholars.This book is published at a time of growing debate in the region over connectivity. The contributing scholars provide their ingenious and insightful thoughts from either a national or regional perspective. The book also contains Working Group Report that include innovative and practical policy recommendations on strengthening the connectivity between ASEAN and China.

Twenty years ago, India launched its “Look East” policy. For most of those 20 years, Myanmar’s isolation, mistrust between India and its neighbors, and poor infrastructure connectivity hindered the development of links between South and Southeast Asia. With Myanmar’s tentative opening and improved relations between India and Bangladesh, an opportunity exists for India to boost trade and security ties with mainland and maritime Southeast Asia. And the United States, during President Barack Obama’s second term, is committed to rebalancing toward Asia, with India playing a pivotal role. With these facts in mind, CSIS presents key recommendations in the areas of diplomacy and security, infrastructure and energy, and enhancing people-to-people collaboration among India, ASEAN, and the United States.

The year 2015 has special significance for regional economic integration. The ASEAN Community, integrating the political, economic and social aspects of regional cooperation, will complete its first milestone by December 2015. Expectations of tangible benefits under an ASEAN Economic Community have attracted much attention though many of the initiatives will be realized post-2015.Following the policy of open regionalism, ASEAN has also signed free trade agreements with Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea. It has launched negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement in 2013, with expected breakthrough by end-2015.The Southeast Asian economies are also involved in two other regional initiatives. First is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), initiated by the United States. As part of the U.S. "e;pivot to Asia"e;, the TPP is envisioned as a "e;comprehensive and high-quality"e; agreement and has concluded its negotiation in October 2015. Second, the discussions on regional connectivity have broadened; China has emerged as a recent lead proponent with its proposals for "e;One Belt, One Road"e; and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.All these together have implications not only for individual Southeast Asian countries but also for regional trading architecture. To aid in understanding the beginnings, development, and potential of these grand plans, this collection of 22 essays offers a rich analysis of ASEAN's own economic integration and other related initiatives proliferating in the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Infrastructure is essential for development. This report presents a snapshot of the current condition of developing Asia's infrastructure---defined here as transport, power, telecommunications, and water supply and sanitation. It examines how much the region has been investing in infrastructure and what will likely be needed through 2030. Finally, it analyzes the financial and institutional challenges that will shape future infrastructure investment and development.

This book advances the international debate on the development of e-commerce with focus on emerging ASEAN economies. It provides readers insights on Asia’s needs and efforts to improve the regional legal and economic conditions to support e-commerce. This book looks at the rules and regulations on e-commerce, and e-commerce for inclusiveness growth. It provides insights from several ASEAN member states and discovers the requirements for Asian countries to better grasp the new juncture of growth associated with economic digitalization, which also have deep implications on continuous regional integration and community-building.

On 28 July 2008, the ASEAN Studies Centre and the Regional Economic Studies Programme, both of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung organized a roundtable on The ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint. The brainstorming session gathered Southeast Asian experts from the region to discuss the AEC Blueprint, which ASEANs leaders had adopted at their summit meeting in November 2007, and the prospects of any obstacles to its implementation by the target year, 2015. The roundtable started with a progress report on the AEC Blueprint given by S. Pushpanathan, Principal Director of Economic Integration and Finance, ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta. Thereafter, the sessions examined the various aspects of the Blueprint tackling the non-tariff barriers, designing a comprehensive ASEAN Investment Agreement, a regional framework for competition policy, the role of infrastructure development in economic integration, the importance of international production networks in economic integration, etc.