of the ASEAN Chartered Professional Engineer
(ACPE). An ACPE is a “non-submitting person”
professional engineer practicing in a cross-border
host ASEAN Member States (AMS) as a Registered
Foreign Professional Engineer (RFPE), either in
consortium or JV with a host-domestic registered/
licensed professional engineer in practice, who is
the Enterprise’s domestic Submitting Person.
It is to be noted the MRA caters for “Engineering
Services Professionals” (ESPs); and ACPE is only
the starter grade for ESP ~ two other grades of
ESPs to follow.
First Generation MRA
The
MR A on Engineering Ser vices is
in fact a First Generation (1 G) MR A;
More of a “snap shot” of existing status quo of
AMS that have their respective regulatory regime
over the practice of “professional engineering
services” offered by natural persons - registered/
licensed professional engineers in private
practice; e.g. Malaysia’s Profession Regulatory
Authority (PRA) on Engineering Services ~ the
BEM; administrating the Registration of Engineers
Act, 1967, but on the parts/sections/subsections
relating to “Professional Engineer” only.
Notwithstanding the fact that the MRA is a
“do-able” First Generation MRA (i.e. 1-G MRA) to
overcome inertia whereby all 10 AMS could buy in
at the time of its conclusion. It has however taken
a long time to realise this and just as long for
actualising the MRA’s operation (nine years have
lapsed).
Why is there a delay in implementing the
present (1-G) MRA on Engineering Services?
Note: Delay in implementing the MRA represents
missed opportunities for ASEAN CBTS suppliers/
providers who look forward to having related (and
coherence in) domestic/ASEAN measures improved
progressively; based on experience gained in the
implementation of the MRA; even though it’s only a
1-G version. The expansion of scope & coverage of
the MRA, and/or other sector specific MRAs could
not be attempted otherwise.
The answer is any or combination (even all) of
the following:
Protectionism/national safeguards akin to
●●
NTM/NTB/discrimination;
Absence of an appropriate domestic
●●
●●
●●
●●
regulatory regime;
Different levels/stages of engineering
education development among AMS;
Perceived exclusiveness rather than
inclusiveness; or perhaps
Continued inertia.
Cross Border Trade in Services
For Cross Border Trade in Services (CBTS ~
including engineering, architectural & construction
services) to take place, there will have to be
in place the following regulations/measures
reciprocal to both trading nations/AMS, market
access (MA), commercial presence (CP), and
national treatment (NT).
ASEAN Economic Community means
Inclusiveness/non-discrimination
For seamless cross border trade to take place in
a Common Market and coupled with Borderless
Production Base that in sum defines AEC,
there should none or lowest possible limitation
on MA, CP and NT. In short there should be
inclusiveness and non-discrimination which means
the ASEAN MRA on Engineering Services (for
CPC 8672 only); if WA were the international best
practice benchmark for the entry qualification for
engineers to progress on to be ACPE, then those
AMS which are non signatories of the WA will feel
threatened. This will lead to the preservation of
“exclusiveness” among developed AMS that would
appear to benefit from the MRA at the expense of
other lesser developed AMS.
This perception of exclusiveness does
not encourage seamless trade. Only win-win
positions on a “level playing field” will enco