Introduction: Trade, Industrialization, and Structural Reform in Southeast Asia

Abstract

This special issue of the Journal of Asian Economics is the outgrowth of a conference held in Ho Chi Minh City in October, 2016, with support from the Centre on Asia and Globalisation of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. The conference focused on the implications of a changing regional economic landscape for Southeast Asian economies. The seven studies contained in this issue are consistent in affirming the welfare improving impact of reductions in tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade under evolving regional arrangements while nevertheless recognizing challenges in organizing global value chains and expanding the involvement of local firms in production networks. Considering the different stages of development of the economies in the Asia region, the potential for growth to be spurred by further pursuit of comparative advantage is compelling. The key will be to manage domestic industrial transitions in accordance with participation in trade agreements and expansion of regional integration.