Martin Desautels, DFDL Managing Partner, was quoted in the International Bar Association (“IBA”) article on the topic, “ASEAN: unlocking the potential of the single market”.
This article discusses the ASEAN Economic Community (“AEC”) creation and potential to work with The Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (“RCEP”). These free-trade agreements were expected to be transformative for the AEC as it’s intent is to link ASEAN countries Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam into a 12-strong trading partnership and bring down trade barriers between all ten ASEAN countries, in collaboration with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. In this article, ASEAN market experts explain some great changes and developments, but also discusses the reasons as to why the AEC may not fulfill its potential to become the seventh-largest economy in the world.
In Martin’s opinion, ASEAN businesses looking to tap into export markets have been particularly adept at responding to the opportunities the AEC presents. He says: “On the business front, the creation of the AEC has dramatically changed how businesses see the ASEAN region and how businesses approach the region. Notably, it has steered businesses in developing a much more integrated ASEAN approach and, for manufacturing, we have seen the development of a more integrated ASEAN supply chain.”
The full IBA Article “ASEAN: unlocking the potential of the single market” can be found here.
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