Economic Security And ASEAN Regional Economic Cooperation

This dissertation tries to explore how ASEAN'S consideration of economic security affects the process of regional economic cooperation. The main points of this dissertation come as follows:The economic pressure stemming from outside of the region provides the dynamic to speed up the ASEAN economic cooperation. Responding to external challenges is a matter of economic security and common interests for the ASEAN member countries at the regional level; the distribution of economic benefits of regional economic integration and its impacts on domestic politics plays a role of delaying the process of ASEAN economic cooperation.ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is used as a case study to prove the points mentioned above. Firstly, external economic threats accelerate the process of AFTA. Regional economic grouping, the construction of European common market and the North American free trade area, which results in economic protectionism will make the access to international market become uncertain for ASEAN member countries. The program of economic reform and opening up undergoing in China forms competitive pressure to ASEAN. These factors have contributed to the rapid introduction of AFTA. The accomplishments of trade negotiations of Uruguay round, the progress in trade and investment liberalization made by APEC and the breakout of 1997 Asian financial crisis prompt the ASEAN countries to quicken the pace of AFTA implementation. Secondly, the conflicts between regional economic integration and member country's economic security defer the process of AFTA. Some member country's withdrawal from economic liberalization package occurring in the industries of agriculture, automobile and petrochemical is the demonstration of ASEAN countries'concern over national economic security under the pressure of economic integration within the region.ASEAN economic community, another program of regional economic integration in the early 21st century after the initial formation of AFTA, is compelled for the same reason of economic security.