ESTABLISHMENT of the proposed Economic Community of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations could help accelerate the economic growth of its members, a report published by the Australian government earlier this week said.

The 101-page report ASEAN: Building an Economic Community published by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on July 6 said the proposed Economic Com-munity would help promote regional stability and attract more investment for the region.

Current plans call for the establishment of the Economic Community by 2020, as part of larger ASEAN integration efforts.

“The Economic Com-munity is just one aspect of an ambitious agenda to maximise ASEAN’s cohesion through the overall ASEAN Community and consequently to maximise its influence in the Asia Pacific region and its contribution to regional stability,” said the executive summery of the report posted on the department’s website.

The leaders of the 10 ASEAN member nations signed the landmark Vientiane Action Program at a 2004 summit in the capital of Laos, setting out goals to integrate ASEAN by 2020 with the establishment of security, economic and cultural communities.

“The ASEAN Economic Community aims to create a seamless production base and integrated market for over half a billion consumers with gross domestic product of more than US$800 billion,” the report said. “This is expected to increase production efficiency, attract more investment and generate more exports.”

“This in turn is expected to help all ASEAN countries, including the least developed, accelerate their rates of economic growth and development and establish ASEAN as a growth area in Asia,” it said.

The report also said disparities in the level of economic development among ASEAN members have posed a challenge to further integration of the regional group.

“Disparities in development levels between ASEAN countries and differences in their individual commitment to pro-growth policies may also lead to differences in political and economic priorities and differences in technical capabilities in implementing integration policies – a significant challenge to further integration,” it said.

The report said ASEAN members would have to demonstrate political will to ensure the implementation of the proposed Economic Community.

“The degree of political will that ASEAN members will be able to generate will be driven by their assessment of the benefits of an ASEAN Economic Community. This depends on the extent to which they perceive the rise of China and India and other globalising countries as an economic threat and the extent to which they see an Economic Community as an answer to that threat.

“It depends also on the extent to which they see an Economic Community increasing ASEAN’s regional influence and promoting regional stability,” the report said.

The report also called on Australian businesses to seek economic opportunities arising from the ASEAN Economic Community by promoting their investment in the region.

Australian Foreign Minister Mr Alexander Downer, who launched the report, said successful implementation of ASEAN’s vision could have an important impact on Australia.

“It would promote growth in ASEAN that would enhance our already strong trade links – two-way trade in goods and services between Australia and ASEAN was, at A$55 billion [US$41.2 billion], around 15 percent of our global trade in 2005.

“It could also open opportunities to expand our relatively underdeveloped investment relationship,” Mr Downer was quoted as saying in a media release issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to coincide with the report’s launch.

ASEAN was established in 1967 with five members: Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines. Brunei joined in 1984, while less-developed countries in the region – Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia – joined in the mid and late 1990s.