Establishment of the AEC and its implication(1)

Establishment of the AEC(ASEAN Economic Community) 

The ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the 7^th largest economy in the world, seems quite noisy in the wake of the new year, 2017. Assassination at the airport of the capital city of Malaysia triggered huge fury from all over the world as the North Korean regime is suspected of the mastermind of the incident. While Myanmar is under international criticism for the massacre of its minority group, Indonesia sees social conflict with controversy of the majority religious party's alleged attempt to exercise influence on the political sector.

10 ASEAN members are faced with their own weighty political or diplomatic issues as mentioned. However, all countries may share their uniformed look at the 'AEC(ASEAN Economic Community)'. It is because the AEC came to the 2^nd year of its ambitious inauguration 47 years after the establishment of the ASEAN back in 1968.

Along with the ASEAN Political-Security Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, the concept of the AEC was born from the ASEAN 2025 adopted by the leaders of the ASEAN. According to the AEC blueprint 2025, part of the ASEAN 2025, the AEC rests on four pillars; a single market and production base; a competitive economic region; equitable economic development; and integration with the global economy.

The AEC has been expected to draw huge attention from the international society ever since it came into the world. It isn't too much to say that agendas of the AEC blueprint 2025 such as elimination of tariffs, facilitation of skilled labor mobility, liberalization of investment and promotion of connectivity have been greatly valued to the global community. In fact, meaningful progress was already achieved since more than 70% of the intra-regional trade has been conducted free from any types of tariff.