ASEAN COMMUNITY OF ENTREPRENEURS
OPINION
SENSE AND
PERSPECTIVE IN
ASEAN INTEGRATION
BY TAN SRI MUNIR MAJID
Decades since the first ASEAN summit meeting held in Bali in 1979, many
simple things - like ASEAN lanes at every major point of entry - remain to
be implemented. Countries in the region often make choices as nation states
rather than as a community.
T
hese past couple of weeks
or so have been replete with
discussion on ASEAN.
The Minister of International
Trade and Industry had a frank and
open dialogue at an event organised
by the ASEAN Business Club
which focused on what is still not
happening on the ground despite
pronouncement of the ASEAN
Economic Community (AEC) at the
end of last year.
Some really very simple things –
like ASEAN lanes at every major point
of entry – remain to be implemented.
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Also, any visa requirement in intra–
ASEAN travel is a travesty – especially
when non–ASEAN nationals can gain
entry without a visa. There is also the
outstanding matter of the ASEAN
Business Travel card.
The Prime Minister – in his
opening speech at another event,
the World Economic Forum on
ASEAN – also alluded to these very
simple things to realise.
It is embarrassing that we have
to talk about these things in front
of non–ASEAN foreigners, and yet
call ourselves a community. It is
ASEAN COMMUNITY OF ENTREPRENEURS | ISSUE 2 : 2016
about time they are cleared once
and for all at the ASEAN summit in
Laos in September. If ASEAN leaders
cannot ensure they are done, it is a
poor reflection indeed of proclaimed
ASEAN integration.
There are, after all, more serious
issues to be addressed, such as not
only the stubborn existence of non–
tariff measures but also their growth;
such as the race to the bottom
as individual members countries
attempt to attract foreign investment;
but perhaps most of all, how to give
a life to the integration process that