How Could Regional Integration Be Improved Within ASEAN?

As we all know, ASEAN integration will be done in 2015. To prepare oneself for this regional integration, each members is struggling one’s best to ameliorate many factors one considered to be necessary or inevitable for the upcoming 2015. From my own perspectives, to improve the regional integration within ASEAN, some actions and ideas should be taken into consideration. Those are as the following.

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Youth Exchange Program should have been additionally initiated to strengthen the ties among ASEAN members since the root level. Youth is the core pillar of the nation, so familiarizing the youths from each member countries together will surely result in good understanding among member states in a very long term generation.

Moreover, youth can share the sense of culture, custom, civilization and the habit of each country among others to avoid misunderstanding. Moreover, ministerial meeting is also a significant point to improve the regional integration. Ministers in the same field should regularly meet and discuss about their field situations and other problems which are considered to be necessary and vital to tackle. This can lead to a mutual understanding among ASEAN member state ministers.

Improving knowledge and skills for the poor member countries should be urgently taken into account. It’s clearly seen that the member states of ASEAN have different standard of living, some of which are far poorer compared to the others. The poor country should develop its citizen’s knowledge and skills to the extent which can be accepted as the ASEAN standards. If the poor country can do this, there will be a good labor flow among ASEAN member country.

Each member state should deposit some amount of moneys to be used for the sake of ASEAN rather than individual member. Besides, such money could be used to bail out any members who are in the state of needing financial assistance. Besides, each should guarantee that the knowledge and information about ASEAN have to be disseminated and circulated nationwide in order for the citizens of the member countries to understand what ASEAN is, and what they should have to be an effective and efficient cell of ASEAN. If the citizens of each member countries don’t know what ASEAN is, the integration will mean nothing.

Most importantly, all member states have to abide firmly to the rule of law of ASEAN. Meanwhile, the educational system of each member states should insert one course called ASEAN studies to make the young generation understand and well-prepared to be ASEAN resident. Last but not least, ASEAN member states have to reach 3 major sectors integration: economic integration, political integration and social integration.

      Economic Integration: As soon as economic integration is successfully reached, there will be a free flow of trading activities, a removal of trading barrier, and a flow of labor and capitals among ASEAN member states leading to a free single market. This means that ASEAN market will surely be a solid and robust market with huge consumption – big demand and big supply in a single market – and ASEAN will have a strong economy. Moreover, this not only creates the inter-flow of trading among ASEAN members but also attracts attention of world market and ASEAN+. Furthermore, while doing economic integration, each member countries will be encouraged and pushed to work harder and harder to improve their conditions such as rule of law, human right, security and so on to meet ASEAN standard.

      Political Integration: When there is political integration, it leads to the creation of understanding, friendship, mutual respect and national interest in terms of diplomacy and good cooperation. This will help to reduce conflicts like border dispute among the member states leading to cooperation in terms of regional security, armed forces, and others. Besides, ASEAN will become one voice community on the international stages to make it more increasingly puissant, and it can confront the superpower such as US, China, Russia and European Union. Political integration helps make administration better although not all member countries follow democracy, and it will try to engage all members to have maximum alike. Even though ASEAN member countries can’t be made the same, there will be very less differences.

      Social Integration: Social integration is like a catalyst to push forwards the economic and political integration to the extent which prompts ASEAN to be globally recognized as one of the superpowers. This kind of integration will assist ASEAN members to understand one another better. When people in ASEAN get to each other in terms of language, culture, education, food, way of living, and others, it’s definitely progressive and positive for economic and political integration.