ASEAN Prospects for Regional Integration and the Implications for the ASEAN Legislative and Institutional Framework

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This article serves as a potential departure point for the ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Organization (AIPO) to better come to terms with the increasingly important process of economic integration in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As ASEAN prospects for regional integration are gaining momentum in the areas of trade and investment, it is important to see how the ASEAN legislative and institutional framework could respond to such a progress of ASEAN economic integration and how AIPO could play its role in the regional development and integration process. In a world of increasing interdependence among nations, international co-operation and integration have gained strong momentum, and the need to pay special attention to regional groupings has arisen. This has raised important questions not only about the projects of ASEAN economic integration, but also about the contribution of the ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Organization (AIPO) to ASEAN's development. This article serves as a potential departure point for AIPO to start engaging itself with the process of trade liberalization and economic co-operation within ASEAN by developing its own modalities with future legal developments within the grouping. AIPO was formed on 2 September 1977 by the Parliaments of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Its membership has now expanded to include the National Assemblies of Vietnam and Lao PDR. The aims and purposes of AIPO as stipulated in its statutes were: 1. To promote closer inter-parliamentary cooperation among the Parliaments of ASEAN member countries and closer contacts and understanding among their members; 2. To facilitate the achievement of the goals of the ASEAN as constituted in the ASEAN Declaration of August 1967 made in Bangkok, Thailand; 3. To study, discuss and suggest solutions to problems of common interest; and 4. To keep all the AIPO member Parliaments informed of steps taken and progress achieved by each Parliament in realization of the aims and purposes of the AIPO. This study aims to recommend to AIPO and its ASEAN National Parliaments' Representatives how to effectively respond to the trend of increasing trade liberalization and economic co-operation within ASEAN as this process requires more co-operation on legal framework issues and commitments. It reviews past ASEAN economic achievements and outlines potential problems and policy implications for ASEAN legal commitments while concurrently examining the consistency of its institutional framework. The major emphasis is on the need for AIPO to pay greater attention to legal harmonization and coordination so that the success of the future ASEAN integration process is guaranteed. The article is divided into three major parts: the progress of ASEAN economic integration and cooperation from the past to present; the degree of ASEAN economic integration through its legal and institutional framework; and future issues and recommendations for AIPO as ways and means to further deepen and enlarge ASEAN integration. Progress of ASEAN Economic Integration The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) turned 30 years old on 8 August 1997. The grouping now embraces almost all nations of Southeast Asia, except Cambodia. The challenge is now open to ASEAN to transform Southeast Asia into a credible regional community of cooperative peace, shared prosperity and social and cultural enrichment. The pace towards further integration in ASEAN seems to have gained momentum in the past few years. This situation is in contrast to the pre-1990s when ASEAN was more apprehensive towards the integration idea and concentrated mainly on economic and political co-operation. At present, ASEAN leaders and policy-makers are feeling more at ease to talk and discuss deeper and wider integration. ASEAN is at the point where it must broaden its own horizons in order to keep up with rapid changes and increased competition in a global economy. …