From 12 to 19 December 2013, the research team of National Project "ASEAN Economic Community in the new global context and Vietnam’s participation", under the program KX.01/11 -15 led by Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Hong Son - Rector of VNU University of Economics and Business has surveyed in Singapore and Indonesia.
The survey aims to find out the direction and experience of Singapore and Indonesia to participate in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), as well as the major problems in the implementation of the AEC process such as the process of trade liberalization, investment, finance and labor mobility of the ASEAN countries.
Specifically in Singapore, the team met representatives who are in charge of the implementation of AEC in the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Industry and Trade to discuss related issues to the AEC implementation process of Singapore, challenges to the implementation of the remaining commitments; direction and the role of Singaporean institutions and the government in the implementation of the AEC and implications for Vietnam.
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At the meeting with ISEAS
The Delegation also had a meeting with experts of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) - the leading research institutes of Singapore which attracted a lot of scholars around the world with their specializing in economic, political and Southeast Asia society studies. Welcoming the UEB delegation were Mr. Rodolfo Severino- former General Secretary of ASEAN, and the ISEAS’s leading experts on international economic integration. Related issues to AEC’s institution, the AEC’s principle of consensus and the advantages/disadvantages that Singapore and other ASEAN countries have to face in implementing AEC were discussed in detail by two sides.
During the business trip in Indonesia, the delegation has met and worked with Mr. Subash Bose Pillai, Director of Market Integration Department, Department of ASEAN Economic Community under ASEAN Secretariat. The two sides discussed in details of the institutional issues in the ASEAN Charter, the operation mechanism of the ASEAN Secretariat, and other institutions in ASEAN and in the member countries, the problems encountered in the AEC implementation as well as the role of the enterprises community in AEC.
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From left: MSc. Vu Thanh Huong, Dr. Nguyen Cam Nhung, Dr. Le Xuan Sang, Mr. Subash Bose Pillai, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Hong Son and Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu
In Indonesia, the research team has met Mr. Yose Rizal Damuri , Head of the Economics Department under CSIS - Center for Strategic and International Studies, one of the leading policy research centers of Indonesia. The two sides discussed about macro-economic situation of Indonesia, Indonesian opinions on opportunities and challenges to join AEC, the impact of the formation of AEC on the field of trade, investment, finance and the labor movement in Indonesia.
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The research team and Mr. Yose Rizal Damuri, Head of Economics Department, CSIS
On 18 December, the team worked with experts from the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). This institute has a very close relationship with the ASEAN Secretariat and 16 research institutes of the ASEAN+6 countries with its function as a "think-tank" of ASEAN. ERIA implements and provides policy research reports and recommendations on economic integration in East Asia and ASEAN for the ministers, leaders, business, human resource development, infrastructure, energy. This time, the two sides discussed on the progress in implementing the AEC, the challenges to the implementation of AEC for the member as well as the prospects of economic integration in the AEC after 2015.
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The meeting at ERIA
With the information, knowledge, documents acquired as well as the issues discussed with partners, this survey have important implications in the implementation of the project "ASEAN Economic Community in the new global context and Vietnam’s participation". In addition, the survey helped faculty members of VNU-UEB to enhance research capacity thanks to the opportunity to learn and achieve experiences from the leading experts on regional economic integration, also contribute to develop and tighten the research partnership between the VNU University of Economics and Business with organizations and partners in Singapore and Indonesia.