Editing ASEAN (section)

===ASCC Blueprint===
{{Main|ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly}}
The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) was also adopted during the 14th ASEAN Summit.<ref>{{cite book|title=ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint|date=Jun 2009|publisher=Association of Southeast Asian Nations|location=Jakarta|isbn=978-602-8411-07-3|pages=32|url=http://www.asean.org/archive/5187-19.pdf|access-date=7 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205203437/http://www.asean.org/archive/5187-19.pdf|archive-date=5 February 2015}}</ref> It envisions an "ASEAN Community that is people-centered and socially responsible with a view to achieving enduring solidarity and unity among the countries and peoples of ASEAN by forging a common identity and building a caring and sharing society which is inclusive and harmonious where the well-being, livelihood, and welfare of the peoples are enhanced". Its focus areas include human development, social welfare and protection, social justice and rights, environmental sustainability, building the ASEAN identity, and narrowing the development gap.

To track the progress of the AEC, a compliance tool called the AEC Scorecard was developed based on the EU Internal Market Scorecard.<ref name="Xianbai" /> It is the only one in effect<ref name="aseanec.blogspot.com">{{cite web|url=http://aseanec.blogspot.com/2012/05/grading-asean-economic-community.html|title=AEC Blog: Grading the ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard|author=Edmund Sim|date=25 May 2012|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=15 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815124400/http://aseanec.blogspot.com/2012/05/grading-asean-economic-community.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and is expected to serve as an unbiased assessment tool to measure the extent of integration and the economic health of the region. It is expected to provide relevant information about regional priorities, and thus foster productive, inclusive, and sustainable growth.<ref name="eastasiaforum.org">{{cite journal|url=http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2012/06/01/a-critical-look-at-the-asean-economic-community-scorecard/|title=A critical look at the ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard|journal=East Asia Forum|date=June 2012 |access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=30 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930053233/https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2012/06/01/a-critical-look-at-the-asean-economic-community-scorecard/|url-status=live |last1=Das |first1=Sanchita Basu }}</ref> It makes it possible to monitor the implementation of ASEAN agreements, and the achievement of milestones indicated in the AEC Strategic Schedule. The scorecard outlines specific actions that must be undertaken collectively and individually to establish AEC by 2015.<ref name="eastasiaforum.org" /> To date, two official scorecards have been published, one in 2010,<ref>{{cite book|title=ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard: Charting Progress Towards Regional Economic Integration|date=Mar 2010|publisher=ASEAN Secretariat|location=Jakarta|isbn=978-602-8411-35-6|url=http://www.asean.org/images/2012/publications/AEC%20Scorecard.pdf|access-date=10 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205203548/http://www.asean.org/images/2012/publications/AEC%20Scorecard.pdf|archive-date=5 February 2015}}</ref> and the other in 2012.<ref name="Scorecard-2012">{{cite book|title=ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard|date=Mar 2012|publisher=ASEAN Secretariat|location=Jakarka|isbn=978-602-8411-96-7|url=http://www.asean.org/images/2012/publications/scorecard_final.pdf|access-date=10 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205203612/http://www.asean.org/images/2012/publications/scorecard_final.pdf|archive-date=5 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="Xianbai" /> However, the scorecard is purely quantitative, as it only examines whether a member state has performed the AEC task or not. The more "yes" answers, the higher the score.<ref name="aseanec.blogspot.com" />
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While Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand have eliminated 99.65% of their tariff lines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam have decreased tariffs on 98.86% of their lines to the 0-5% tariff range in 2010, and are projected to eliminate tariffs on these goods by 2015, with the ability to do so for a few import duty lines until 2018.<ref name="tax-news.com">{{cite news|last1=Swire|first1=Mary|title=Singapore Plugs ASEAN Trade Integration|url=http://www.tax-news.com/news/Singapore_Plugs_ASEAN_Trade_Integration____65778.html#sthash.zPWaW4hW.dpuf|access-date=12 May 2015|work=Tax-News|date=10 September 2014|archive-date=30 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930053235/https://www.tax-news.com/news/Singapore_Plugs_ASEAN_Trade_Integration____65778.html#sthash.zPWaW4hW.dpuf|url-status=usurped}}</ref> A recent study by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited has projected that five of the top fifteen manufacturing locations in the world will be in ASEAN by 2018. Furthermore, by 2050, ASEAN is expected to be the fourth-largest economy in the world (after the European Union, the US, and China).<ref name="tax-news.com"/>

The AEC envisions the free flow of overseas labor. However, receiving countries may require would-be workers to take licensing examinations in those countries regardless of whether or not the worker has a professional license from their home country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sbr.com.sg/economy/commentary/what-aec-2015-means-singaporean-businesses|title=What the AEC 2015 means for Singaporean businesses|work=Singapore Business Review|date=27 June 2014|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=25 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425024551/http://sbr.com.sg/economy/commentary/what-aec-2015-means-singaporean-businesses|url-status=live}}</ref> Singapore is a major destination for skilled migrants from other ASEAN countries, mostly from Malaysia and the Philippines. Total employment there doubled between 1992 and 2008 from 1.5 million to three million, and the number of foreign workers almost tripled, from fewer than 400,000 to nearly 1.1 million. High-skilled foreign talents (customer service, nursing, engineering, IT) earn at least several thousand US dollars a month and with a credential (usually a college degree) receive employment passes.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Southeast Asia: ASEAN 2015|journal=Migration News|date=Oct 2013|volume=20|issue=4|url=https://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3868_0_3_0|access-date=12 February 2015|archive-date=30 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930053232/https://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3868_0_3_0|url-status=live}}</ref> In recent years, Singapore has been slowly cutting down the number of foreign workers to challenge companies to upgrade their hiring criteria and offer more jobs to local residents.

Narrowing the Development Gap (NDG) is the framework for addressing disparities among, and within, member states where pockets of underdevelopment exist. Under NDG, ASEAN has continued to coordinate closely with other sub-regional cooperation frameworks (e.g., [[BIMP-EAGA]], IMT-GT, GMS, Mekong programs), viewing them as "equal partners in the development of regional production and distribution networks" in the AEC, and as a platform to "mainstream social development issues in developing and implementing projects" in the context of the ASCC.<ref name="asean.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.asean.org/communities/asean-economic-community/category/overview-ndg-iai-iai-work-plan-iai-task-force-idcf|title=Overview|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630140736/http://www.asean.org/communities/asean-economic-community/category/overview-ndg-iai-iai-work-plan-iai-task-force-idcf|archive-date=30 June 2015}}</ref>

The six-year Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plans have been developed to assist Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, as well as other sub-regions to ensure quick growth. The First IAI Work Plan was implemented from 2002 to 2008. The second plan (2009–2015) supports the goals of the ASEAN Community and is composed of 182 prescribed actions, which include studies, training programs, and policy implementation support, conducted through projects supported by older ASEAN member states, and ASEAN's Dialogue partners and external parties. The IAI Work Plan is patterned after and supports the key program areas in the three ASEAN Community Blueprints: ASPC, AEC, and ASCC. The IAI Task Force, composed of representatives of the Committee of Permanent Representatives and its working group from all member states, is in charge of providing general advice and policy guidelines and directions in the design and implementation of the plan. All member states are represented in the IAI Task Force, chaired by representatives of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam. The ASEAN Secretariat, in particular through the IAI and NDG Division, supports the implementation and management of the IAI Work Plan and coordinates activities related to sub-regional frameworks. The division works closely with the Dialogue Partners, and international agencies, to develop strategies and programs to assist in promoting and implementing IAI and NDG activities in ASEAN.<ref name="asean.org"/>

ASEAN's planned integration has challenged its citizens to embrace a regional identity. It delivers a challenge to construct dynamic institutions and foster sufficient amount of social capital. The underlying assumption is that the creation of a regional identity is of special interest to ASEAN and the intent of the 2020 Vision policy document was to reassert the belief in a regional framework designed as an action plan related to human development and civic empowerment. Accordingly, these assumptions will be the basis for recommendations and strategies in developing a participatory regional identity.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jones|first1=Michael E.|title=Forging an ASEAN Identity: The Challenge to Construct a Shared Destiny|journal=Contemporary Southeast Asia|date=2004|volume=26|issue=1|pages=140–154|url=https://www.academia.edu/981239|access-date=12 February 2015|doi=10.1355/cs26-1g|s2cid=154782260 |archive-date=30 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930053237/https://www.academia.edu/981239/Forging_an_ASEAN_Identity_The_Challenge_to_Construct_a_Shared_Destiny|url-status=live}}</ref>
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====APAEC blueprint====
Part of the work towards the ASEAN Economic Community is the integration of the energy systems of the ASEAN member states. The blueprint for this integration is provided by the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC).<ref name="Overland 100019">{{Cite journal|last1=Overland|first1=Indra|last2=Sagbakken|first2=Haakon Fossum|last3=Chan|first3=Hoy-Yen|last4=Merdekawati|first4=Monika|last5=Suryadi|first5=Beni|last6=Utama|first6=Nuki Agya|last7=Vakulchuk|first7=Roman|date=December 2021|title=The ASEAN climate and energy paradox|journal=Energy and Climate Change|volume=2|pages=100019|doi=10.1016/j.egycc.2020.100019 |issn=2666-2787 |hdl=11250/2734506|hdl-access=free}}</ref> APAEC is managed by the ASEAN Center for Energy.

====2020 ASEAN Banking Integration Framework====
As trade is liberalized with the integration in 2015, the need arises for ASEAN banking institutions to accommodate and expand their services to an intra-ASEAN market. Experts, however, have already forecast a shaky economic transition, especially for smaller players in the banking and financial services industry. Two separate reports by [[Standard & Poor's]] (S&P) outline the challenges that ASEAN financial institutions face as they prepare for the 2020 banking integration.{{efn|name=fn1|''ASEAN Financial Integration: The Long Road to Bank Consolidation'' and ''The Philippines' Banking System: The Good, the Bad and the Ambivalent''.}} The reports point out that overcrowded banking sector in the Philippines is expected to feel the most pressure as the integration welcomes tighter competition with bigger and more established foreign banks.<ref name="mb.com.ph">{{cite web|url=http://www.mb.com.ph/sp-cites-moves-by-philippine-banks/|title=S&P cites moves by Philippine banks|author=Manila Bulletin|website=[[Manila Bulletin]] |access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=14 November 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141114060935/http://www.mb.com.ph/sp-cites-moves-by-philippine-banks/|url-status=live}}</ref> As a result, there needs to be a regional expansion by countries with a small banking sector to lessen the impact of the post-integration environment. In a follow-up report, S&P recently cited the Philippines for "shoring up its network bases and building up capital ahead of the banking integration – playing defense and strengthening their domestic networks".<ref name="mb.com.ph" />

====Financial integration roadmap====
The roadmap for financial integration is the latest regional initiative that aims to strengthen local self-help and support mechanisms. The roadmap's implementation would contribute to the realization of the AEC. Adoption of a common currency, when conditions are ripe, could be the final stage of the AEC. The roadmap identifies approaches and milestones in capital market development, capital account and financial services liberalization, and ASEAN currency cooperation. Capital market development entails promoting institutional capacity as well as the facilitation of greater cross-border collaboration, linkages, and harmonization between capital markets. Orderly capital account liberalization would be promoted with adequate safeguards against volatility and systemic risks. To expedite the process of financial services liberalization, ASEAN has agreed on a positive list modality and adopted milestones to facilitate negotiations. Currency cooperation would involve the exploration of possible currency arrangements, including an ASEAN currency payment system for trade in local goods to reduce the demand for US dollars and to help promote stability of regional currencies, such as by settling intra-ASEAN trade using regional currencies.<ref name="ReferenceB" />
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In regards to a common currency, ASEAN leaders agreed in November 1999 to create the establishment of currency swaps and repurchase agreements as a credit line against future financial shocks. In May 2000, ASEAN finance ministers agreed to plan for closer cooperation through the [[Chiang Mai Initiative]] (CMI).<ref>Financial Integration and Common Currency Area in ASEAN</ref> The CMI has two components, an expanded ASEAN Swap Arrangement (ASA), and a network of bilateral swap arrangements among the ASEAN Plus Three. The ASA preceded the [[1997 Asian financial crisis]] and was originally established by the monetary authorities of the five founding member states to help meet temporary liquidity problems. The ASA now includes all ten member states with an expanded facility of US$1 billion. In recognition of the economic interdependence of [[East Asia]], which has combined foreign exchange reserves amounting to about US$1 trillion, a network of bilateral swap arrangements and repurchase agreements among the [[#ASEAN Plus Three|ASEAN Plus Three]] has been agreed upon. The supplementary facility aims to provide temporary financing for member states with balance-of-payments difficulties. In 2009, 16 bilateral swap arrangements (BSAs) were concluded with a combined amount of about US$35.5 billion.<ref name="ReferenceA">Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralzation</ref> The CMI was signed on 9 December 2009 and took effect on 20 March 2014 while the amended version, the multilateralization of CMI (CMIM), was on 17 July 2014. The CMIM is a multilateral currency swap arrangement governed by a single contractual agreement. In addition, an independent regional surveillance unit called the [[ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic and Research Office]] (AMRO) was established to monitor and analyze economies and to support the CMIM decision-making process.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The amendments would allow access for the auction of a crisis prevention facility. These amendments are expected to fortify CMIM as the region's financial safety net in the event of any potential or actual liquidity difficulty.<ref>The Amended Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) Comes into Effect Today, 17 July 2014 Media Releases</ref>

During peacetime, the AMRO would conduct annual consultations with individual member economies and prepare quarterly-consolidated reports on the macroeconomic assessment of the ASEAN+3 region and individual member countries. In a time of crisis, the AMRO would prepare recommendations on any swap request based on macroeconomic analysis of a member state and monitor the use and impact of funds once an application is approved. AMRO was officially incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in Singapore on 20 April 2011. Governance of AMRO is being exercised by the executive committee (EC) and its operational direction by the Advisory Panel (AP). AMRO is currently headed by Dr Yoichi Nemoto of Japan, who is serving his second two-year term until 26 May 2016.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/>
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====Food security====
Member states recognize the importance of strengthening [[food security]] to maintain stability and prosperity in the region.<ref>{{cite web|title=Food Security |url=https://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/ |website=World Health Organisation |access-date=10 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150917112705/http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/ |archive-date=17 September 2015 }}</ref> As ASEAN moves towards AEC and beyond, food security would be an integral part of the community-building agenda.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Desker|first1=Barry|last2=Caballero-Anthony|first2=Mely|last3=Teng|first3=Paul|title=Thought/Issues Paper on ASEAN Food Security: Towards a more Comprehensive Framework|date=Oct 2013|publisher=Nanyang Technological University|location=Singapore|url=http://www.eria.org/ERIA-DP-2013-20.pdf|access-date=10 February 2015|archive-date=30 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930053232/https://www.eria.org/ERIA-DP-2013-20.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Strengthened food security is even more relevant in light of potentially severe risks from climate change with agriculture and fisheries being the most affected industries.<ref>Overland, Indra et al. (2017) ''[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320622312 Impact of Climate Change on ASEAN International Affairs: Risk and Opportunity Multiplier]'', {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728061128/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320622312_Impact_of_Climate_Change_on_ASEAN_International_Affairs_Risk_and_Opportunity_Multiplier |date=28 July 2020 }}, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and Myanmar Institute of International and Strategic Studies (MISIS).</ref>

Part of the aim of ASEAN integration is to achieve food security collectively via [[trade]] in rice and maize. [[Trade facilitation]] measures and the harmonization/equivalency of food regulation and control standards would reduce the cost of trade in food products. While specialization and revealed comparative and competitive indices point to complementarities between trade patterns among the member states, intra-ASEAN trade in agriculture is quite small, something that integration could address.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bello|first1=Amelia L.|title=Ensuring Food Security—A Case for ASEAN Integration|journal=Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development|volume=2|issue=1,2|url=http://searca.org/ajad/index.php/previous-issues/13-view-article?aid=28|access-date=12 February 2015|issn=1656-4383|archive-date=30 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930053236/https://ajad.searca.org/index.php/previous-issues/13-view-article?aid=28|url-status=live}}</ref> The MARKET project would provide flexible and demand-driven support to the ASEAN Secretariat while bringing more private-sector and civil-society input into regional agriculture policy dialogue. By building an environment that reduces barriers to trade, ASEAN trade would increase, thereby decreasing the risk of food price crisis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asean.org/news/asean-secretariat-news/item/strengthening-food-security-for-asean-citizens-asean-us-cooperation-on-food-security-initiative-market-project-reduces-market-volatility-through-increased-regional-trade|title=Strengthening Food Security for ASEAN Citizens: ASEAN – U.S. Cooperation on Food Security initiative "MARKET" Project Reduces Market Volatility through Increased Regional Trade|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429043831/http://www.asean.org/news/asean-secretariat-news/item/strengthening-food-security-for-asean-citizens-asean-us-cooperation-on-food-security-initiative-market-project-reduces-market-volatility-through-increased-regional-trade|archive-date=29 April 2015}}</ref>