Association of Southeastern Asian Nations Association in Favor of Regional Integration

ASEAN In Favor of Regional Integration

Warrick L. Farr

MGT-448

09-20-2012

Professor Willis

ASEAN In Favor of Regional Integration

This article will discuss why we are in favor of integrating with the Association of Southeastern Asian Nations and one article will discuss why we are against integrating with the ASEAN.

Alfredo (1999-2012), “states that recent decades, the globalization of markets and the expansion of free-trade agreements have prompted many areas of the world to consider regional integration as a means to better compete in the world economy. Countries that alone may not have sufficiently large markets for production and consumption join together with regional neighbors in order to form areas where goods and labor can flow relatively freely in response to market demand. This allows the region to leverage the comparative advantage of many countries into one unified block of economic activity. As with every complex political and economic venture, regional integration is not without its risks. In order to better understand the issue, it is necessary to examine both the advantages and disadvantages of regional integration.” One of the advantages of integration would allow several countries to come together to strengthen the economy. This is done by opening the borders between the countries and lifting tariffs and taxes on goods that are imported or exported between member countries. Integrating with the ASEAN is a good idea because they have already opened their doors to the outside world in the trade arena. Europe is ASEAN largest trading partner; however, in 2005, the region ranked as the United States' fourth-largest global trading partner. The United States is second only to Japan in direct investment in ASEAN (US Chamber of Commerce, 2012). With Singapore being one of the more established economies in the world this part of the area is a good place to integrate with because with the rich resources in this part of the world and low...