Last week ASEAN released a Survey
on ASEAN Community Building Efforts.
Not surprisingly, the survey showed that the overall understanding of
ASEAN by its own citizens is relatively low.
While 81 percent of those living in the capital cities of ASEAN can
recognize the name of the regional grouping, 76 percent lack a basic
understanding of what ASEAN actually does.
The survey blames this perception gap on language barriers and
differences in educational levels among member states.
Of note to the ASEAN
Economic Community, the survey, funded by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund,
found that
In terms of
perceptions, businesses and
the general public both perceive
ASEAN integration as having positive impacts
to ASEAN. Businesses express
a view that AEC will improve the
overall ASEAN economy and this will
aid them in
competing within
the global arena. The general
public,
on the other hand, believe
that the integration
will create more employment
opportunities and allow
them to travel more freely
within ASEAN.
Furthermore, they believe
moving towards ASEAN Community
will help bring
peace and security throughout
the region. However,
there are some negative
perceptions of ASEAN integration.
Businesses and the general public
are afraid that labour migration
might be intensified
to the extent that it could
cause local
employees to lose
their jobs. Another concern is
that local producers could
face greater competition
from companies of other ASEAN countries
and beyond.
These findings are
consistent with media coverage and my own anecdotal experience, as I often
describe in this blog.
Statistics from this blog
also indicate that interest in ASEAN varies widely among the ASEAN members and
the world at large. Here are the top ten
countries in terms of page views:
|
Singapore
|
20%
|
|
Thailand
|
17%
|
|
United States
|
13%
|
|
Indonesia
|
12%
|
|
Philippines
|
5%
|
|
Cambodia
|
5%
|
|
Malaysia
|
4%
|
|
Vietnam
|
2%
|
|
India
|
2%
|
|
United Kingdom
|
1%
|
As I am based in Singapore,
that Singapore would be ranked first is no surprise. The posts on stamp duty on
property purchases by foreigners have been the most viewed pages.
Thailand is second,
reflecting the “Thai
anxiety” that has manifested itself in that country’s insecurity regarding
its competitive position within ASEAN and with other countries.
Indonesia’s high ranking is
consistent with the ASEAN Secretariat’s location in Jakarta and with
Indonesia’s historical leadership of ASEAN as the largest country in the grouping.
Cambodia is surprisingly
high, but perhaps not so, given that Cambodia served as ASEAN chair in 2012.
What does surprise me is that readership in Malaysia and the Philippines is much lower, almost as low as Vietnam’s readership. Both countries have wide internet penetration, good English language capabilities and an active media. These attributes are not shared by Vietnam, yet the three countries are at the same apparent interest level. The relatively low interest level in these two founding members of ASEAN in the blog, and presumably, the AEC, is something I will continue to study.
Finally, among non-ASEAN
members, the United States has a keen interest in the blog. Yet ironically, it
is not a bilateral FTA partner with ASEAN as a grouping. Of such FTA partners, only India appears in
the top 10. Korea, Japan, Ausralia-New
Zealand and China do not appear (although blogs are blocked in China). Because the blog software does not consolidate
data for the EU countries, its presence will be understated.
Thus, I would agree with the
Survey on ASEAN Community Building Efforts that understanding of ASEAN is
inconsistent within the region and elsewhere.
The interest in this blog is motivated by both optimistic and
pessimistic views of the regional grouping. In fact, the much lower readership
in Malaysia and the Philippines perhaps reflects indifference towards the AEC
in general.
I would also agree with the
authors of the survey that greater efforts need to be made to engage businesses
and the general public in ASEAN. For
businesses, there needs to be a clear policy on the free flow of goods and
services, the differences in competitiveness among member states and the impact
of free movement of skilled labor. For
the general public, ASEAN needs to strengthen its organization and its ability
to bring peace and security to its citizens, improve its economic situation and
create more job opportunities.
In other words, it is not
just the message that needs to be improved, but the ASEAN “product” that needs
to be improved. Only by doing so will
ASEAN’s people be best served by the ASEAN Community.
