Priority Integration Sectors in ASEAN: Supply-side Implications and Options

There are 12 priority integration sectors of strategic importance for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Exports from the nine largely goods sectors, with almost three quarters of merchandise export value, are dominated by electronics-related equipment and products. Priority goods have diverse supply and trade characteristics but among the common performance issues and development options for attention in ASEAN are the high levels of trade and nontrade costs and complications. These are mainly caused and compounded by inadequate transport connectivity, cross-border clearance problems, and diverse and exacting trade rules and technical regulations. Meanwhile, greater supply linkages have yet to be achieved for enhanced collective efficiency in textiles and clothing within the region and/or across ASEAN, People’s Republic of China, and South Asia. Higher levels of product and process creativity and innovation, moreover, are needed to lift local value addition and to upgrade to high-premium, more sophisticated activities and services, especially in electronics-related sectors. All these issues and options have become more pressing against the backdrop of People’s Republic of China’s speedy progress in competence building, technology catch-up, and manufacturing competitiveness. The extensive and complex agenda for further research and information dissemination concerning regional integration and competitive globalization in ASEAN, and more generally East Asia, is thus well highlighted.