Background

Michael G. Plummer is Head of the Development Division of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He will give a seminar on "The Economics of the ASEAN Economic Community."

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) constitutes the most ambitious program of economic cooperation in the developing world. Its goal is to create no less than free flow of goods, services, foreign direct investment, and skilled labor, as well as a freer flow of capital, throughout this region of 600 million people. This talk will consider, from both qualititative and quantitative perspectives, the economics of the AEC, underscoring the key opportunities as well as the major challenges that ASEAN faces. It concludes that, should ASEAN be able to overcome these challenges, the AEC will help the region improve competitiveness, facilitate the creation of production networks, foster the diffusion of "best practices", and help ASEAN project its interests more effectively in an increasingly-integrated global economy.