ASEAN has produced a plan of action on ASEAN Economic Integration, which is annexed to the Bali Concord II. To kick-start the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the plan of action provides numerous policy recommendations to be implemented over the next 1 to 2 years. At the track-two level, research institutes/think-tanks such as ASEAN-ISIS, ISEAS and CSIS (Jakarta) have contributed concept papers on the AEC and the ASEAN Security Community (ASC). This Roundtable provided the opportunity for scholars and experts on ASEAN to "brain-storm" in a more comprehensive and integrated manner, the different ideas and proposals underpinning the process of community building that ASEAN is embarking upon. This report reflects the conclusions that emerged from the ASEAN Community Roundtable.

The accession of the People's Republic of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 significantly transformed the global economy both de facto and de jure. At the regional level, China's WTO accession served as an important catalyst for the establishment of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) in East Asia. This was a novel development for the region, since East Asian States had previously followed a largely informal, market-driven approach to regional economic integration. By contrast, rules-based economic integration involving East Asian States was traditionally limited to multilateral integration under the GATT/WTO framework. This book systematically analyses and explains the development, nature and challenges of rules-based regional economic integration in East Asia with particular attention to the region's first four RTAs. While also addressing the socio-economic, historical and political factors influencing the development of RTAs in East Asia, the book focuses on the legal institutions governing economic integration in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as under the ASEAN–China Comprehensive Economic Co-Operation Agreement (ACFTA), the Japan–Singapore New Age Economic Partnership Agreement (JSEPA), and the Mainland China–Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA). The book provides a systematic, comparative account of the scope, depth and (hard law versus soft law) quality of rules-based economic integration achieved under these four RTAs in the areas of trade in goods and services, investment liberalisation and protection, labour mobility, and dispute settlement.

At the Ninth ASEAN Summit in Bali on 7 October 2003, the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed to establish an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2020. It is envisaged that the AEC would be a single market and production base, with a free flow of goods and services, investments, capital and skilled labour. An integrated ASEAN with a sizeable market of over 500 million people could become an alternative to China as a regional production base for MNCs. Although there are roadmaps for the fast-track integration of eleven priority sectors, an overall longer-term roadmap needs to be formulated to realize the AEC. This book addresses the main issues.

ASEAN has declared its intention to create a security community in Southeast Asia that is people-orientated. This book evaluates ASEAN's progress, and in doing so examines three matters of concern. The book firstly looks at the importance of constitutive norms to the workings of security communities, by identifying ASEAN's constitutive norms and the extent to which they act as a help of hindrance in establishing a security community. It then moves on to how ASEAN has interpreted people-orientated as empowering civil society organisations to be community stakeholders. The book discusses the uncertainty between how ASEAN envisages their role, and the role they themselves expect to have. Civil society actors are seeking to influence what sort of community evolves and their ability to interact with the state elite is evaluated to determine what interpretation of people-oriented is likely to emerge. Thirdly, in order to make progress ASEAN has sought to achieve cooperation among its member states in functional areas. The book examines this interest in functional cooperation through case studies on human rights, HIV/AIDS and disaster management. By discussing the notion of ASEAN being people-orientated, and how it engages with 'the people', the book provides important insights into what type of community ASEAN in building, as well as furthering our understanding on security communities more broadly.

Plenty has been written about the political and economical aspects of regionalism, but the legal perspective has been neglected. East Asian Regionalism From a Legal Perspective is unique in synthesizing legal, economic and political analyses. In the first part, the book investigates the current features of regionalism from a comparative perspective, looking at economic and currency cooperation and comparing Asian regionalism with Europe and Latin America. In the second part, the contributors go on to look at the present legal features of regionalism, covering institutional frameworks, trade diversity and regional integration. The third part of the book is truly unique in proposing an essential groundwork for the institutionalisation of an East Asian Community. It conceives a draft East Asian Charter, an essential document that distils what East Asian nations have achieved, and also includes integral principles and fundamental rules for future cooperation among countries and peoples in the region. This book will be of interest to graduates and academics interested in regionalism, international relations, international law and Asian studies.

Launched in 1992, Regional Outlook is an annual publication of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, published every January. Designed for the busy executive, professional, diplomat, journalist, or interested observer, Regional Outlook aims to provide a succinct analysis of current political and economic trends shaping the region, and the outlook for the forthcoming two years. This forward-looking book contains focused political commentaries and economic forecasts on all ten countries in Southeast Asia, as well as a select number of topical pieces of significance to the region.

ASEAN has produced a plan of action on ASEAN Economic Integration, which is annexed to the Bali Concord II. To kick-start the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the plan of action provides numerous policy recommendations to be implemented over the next 1 to 2 years. At the track-two level, research institutes/think-tanks such as ASEAN-ISIS, ISEAS and CSIS (Jakarta) have contributed concept papers on the AEC and the ASEAN Security Community (ASC). This Roundtable provided the opportunity for scholars and experts on ASEAN to "brain-storm" in a more comprehensive and integrated manner, the different ideas and proposals underpinning the process of community building that ASEAN is embarking upon. This report reflects the conclusions that emerged from the ASEAN Community Roundtable.

Provides a comparative sketch of regional cooperation in South and Southeast Asia in the light of various political, economic and social developments in the two regions.

ASEAN has produced a plan of action on ASEAN Economic Integration, which is annexed to the Bali Concord II. To kick-start the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the plan of action provides numerous policy recommendations to be implemented over the next 1 to 2 years. At the track-two level, research institutes/think-tanks such as ASEAN-ISIS, ISEAS and CSIS (Jakarta) have contributed concept papers on the AEC and the ASEAN Security Community (ASC).Against this backdrop, the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) organized the ASEAN Community Roundtable in Singapore from 4 to 5 June 2004. The main theme of the Roundtable was entitled "e;Towards Realizing an ASEAN Community"e;.This Roundtable provided the opportunity for scholars and experts on ASEAN to "e;brain-storm"e; in a more comprehensive and integrated manner, the different ideas and proposals underpinning the process of community building that ASEAN is embarking upon. This report reflects the conclusions that emerged from the ASEAN Community Roundtable.