"Paper originally presented at the ASEAN Roundtable on ASEAN Economic Co-operatiopn in the 1990's", jointly organized by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) and the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in Singapore, 27-28 June 1991"--Acknowledgements.

Enhancing regional economic integration has become an important priority for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Building on the ASEAN Free Trade Area, ASEAN has been implementing the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) since 2007, scheduled for completion in 2015. The AEC is in many ways the most ambitious economic cooperation programme in the developing world, with its goal being the creation of an economic space in which there will be a free flow of goods, services, foreign direct investment and skilled labour. In addition, ASEAN has cemented free trade areas with six regional partners (Japan, Republic of Korea, People's Republic of China, Australia, New Zealand and India) and, together with these economies, launched the Regional Economic Comprehensive Partnership (RCEP) in November 2012, also with the goal of completion in 2015. This study estimates the implications of the regional integration initiatives on ASEAN Member States using a cutting-edge computable general equilibrium model. In addition to gauging the effects on welfare, trade and economic structure, it considers the ramifications for labour markets. Using detailed data from the labour force surveys available for six ASEAN markets, the paper captures the effects of these initiatives on seven categories of labour at the occupational level. It also includes estimates of the distributional effects of these initiatives for labour relative to other factors (capital and land) and on gender.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is strategically significant because of its size, dynamism, and role in the Asian economic and security architectures. This paper examines how ASEAN seeks to strengthen these assets through "centrality" in intraregional and external policy decisions. It recommends a two-speed approach toward centrality in order to maximize regional incomes and benefit all member economies: first, selective engagement by ASEAN members in productive external partnerships and, second, vigorous policies to share gains across the region. This strategy has solid underpinnings in the Kemp-Wan theorem on trade agreements. It would warrant, for example, a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement with incomplete ASEAN membership, complemented with policies to extend gains across the region. The United States could support this framework by pursuing deep relations with some ASEAN members, while broadly assisting the region's development.

Enhancing regional economic integration has become an important priority for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Building on the ASEAN Free Trade Area, ASEAN has been implementing the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) since 2007, scheduled for completion in 2015. The AEC is in many ways the most ambitious economic cooperation programme in the developing world, with its goal being the creation of an economic space in which there will be a free flow of goods, services, foreign direct investment and skilled labour. In addition, ASEAN has cemented free trade areas with six regional partners (Japan, Republic of Korea, People's Republic of China, Australia, New Zealand and India) and, together with these economies, launched the Regional Economic Comprehensive Partnership (RCEP) in November 2012, also with the goal of completion in 2015. This study estimates the implications of the regional integration initiatives on ASEAN Member States using a cutting-edge computable general equilibrium model. In addition to gauging the effects on welfare, trade and economic structure, it considers the ramifications for labour markets. Using detailed data from the labour force surveys available for six ASEAN markets, the paper captures the effects of these initiatives on seven categories of labour at the occupational level. It also includes estimates of the distributional effects of these initiatives for labour relative to other factors (capital and land) and on gender.

Discriminatory trade liberalization in agricultural trade is becoming a new trend in the second wave of regional trade agreements. Interdependence of agricultural development and international trade is a key stimulus for the recent developments of trade liberalization in agricultural sector. In developing countries, agricultural sector is still the most dominant sector and contributes a larger portion to national income and employment. Majority of the people of these countries have employed in farming and agricultural related works. As a result, the standard of living of these people greatly depends on the development of agricultural sector. Poverty and hunger which are the cause and consequence of food insecurity is linked with agricultural sector of those economies. The main objective of this study is to capture trade benefits of ASEAN free trade agreement (AFTA) on agrifood trade. The study employs gravity model to estimate impacts of AFTA on agrifood trade and investigate trade effect of AFTA on eight agrifood commodities individually and on the whole. Findings of the study support the statement that joint membership has significantly enhanced agrifood trade among member countries of AFTA. Also, trade creation in agrifood trade is found with the formation of AFTA. Further, study concludes that joint membership has created favorable environment to increase trade among members in cereals, drinks, edible foods, oilseeds, red meat and sugar trade while making negative impacts on fruits and vegetable trade. Trade creation is found in cereal, drinks, edible foods, fruits, vegetables and sugar with AFTA. Oil seeds and red meat found to be trade diverted by AFTA.