The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which will become a reality at the end of this year, would boost the ten- nation bloc's influence and prestige in the global stage, according to Cambodian scholars here.
"ASEAN will play a more critical role in maintaining regional peace and stability, and promoting regional community in East Asia, " Chheang Vannarith, chairman of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies, told Xinhua. "It will have more diplomatic leverage on the international stage." He said ASEAN member states will benefit from the realization of the community at different levels, adding that the more advanced economies will benefit more from the regional economic integration.
Vannarith, who is also a lecturer of Asia Pacific Studies at the University of Leeds in Britain, said some ASEAN member states are not yet ready for the ASEAN community by the end of this year since they face some challenges such as slow national regulatory reforms in accordance with the ASEAN blueprints, development gap between the member states, weak democratic institutions and people' s participation, and rising nationalism.
The expert said that there is a development gap between the six old ASEAN members--Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand--and the four new ASEAN members--Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
"Thus, the bloc needs to provide more capacity-building support to the less developed member countries," Vanarrith said. He said that through the upcoming ASEAN integration, Cambodia can attract more foreign direct investments, particularly the multinational companies which are interested in diversifying their suppliers of parts and components.
"Cambodia has great potential to be an important actor in regional and global production chains due to its relatively cheap labor and improved infrastructure," he said. "Cambodian entrepreneurs will have greater opportunity to build regional networks to expand their business." On China's "Belt and Road"initiative and its contribution to the development of ASEAN Community, the scholar said the initiative plays a complimentary role in connecting ASEAN and reducing the development gap in the region.
"China should give priority to the Mekong sub-region in its infrastructure development project," he said. ASEAN has set Dec. 31, 2015 as the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community, which means that there will be a free flow of goods, services, investments, capital, and skilled labor within the regional grouping.
Mey Kalyan, a senior adviser of the Supreme National Economic Council, said Cambodia is ready for the ASEAN integration because the country is basically a free and open economy and does not have particular sector to protect. "However, there are many challenges ahead, and we need to resolve them along the way, particularly in the areas of competitiveness, human resources, institutional capacity, science and technology, and the infrastructure," he said.
Kalyan said that AEC will open up the region with a population of 600 million to Cambodian products instead of just 15 million people, which is the current population of Cambodia. "Cambodia will also become one of the destinations for foreign investments although it could face strong competition from a more established and developed ASEAN members," Kalyan said.
Kalyan said the richer ASEAN countries and international communities must have generous policy toward poorer countries such as Cambodia by providing assistance in the areas of infrastructure, human resources development, transfer of know-how and technology, and institutional building.
Nguon Meng Tech, director general of the Cambodia's Chamber of Commerce, said the upcoming AEC would be a good opportunity for Cambodian enterprises to expand their markets. "It will give a greater opportunity for our enterprises to expand their businesses, but the enterprises also need to improve their product quality in order to meet the standard requirements determined by other ASEAN member states," he said.
Tech said the ASEAN Community will increase the bloc's influence and prestige on the international stage.
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