ASEAN Economic Co-operation: A Stock-Taking from a Political Economy Point of View

Abstract

The article tries to explain the performance of ASEAN as a regional body of integration and co operation under a political economy point of view. The success of a scheme like ASEAN is seen to be dependent on the type of (or services) supplied by the regional organization. If ASEAN would have acted as complement to the private sector producing private goods and to national authorities offering services of national scope only, and not as a substitute, it would have been more successful than it actually was. It is argued that the only supranational and public good supplied by ASEAN is the Dialogue Partner System as it strengthens the collective bargaining power of ASEAN countries against the major trading partner. Sub-regional co-operation, such as facilitating cross border investment (growth triangle) and, in particular, a common stance against third countries in areas of essential interest to ASEAN member countries, is looked upon as promising areas of joint policy making.