Western countries have criticized ASEAN for being too "soft" in its

approach to promoting human rights and democracy in the junta-led

Myanmar.
The AEC development has been criticized for being too slow and
some observers have said that the issues that have been delayed were those
of importance and could make or break the success of the integration. Some
specialists also commented about the lack of leadership on this issue - the
role of ASEAN chairmanship is a rotating position and a series of officials
from the poorer, less developed ASEAN countries will be the chair of ASEAN
for the next few years which means that leadership will be inexperienced
and possibly be less interested in pushing ahead quickly with integration on
all fronts.
Some observers note that the less experienced officials from poorer
and less developed ASEAN countries set to follow them will not have the
same leadership skills, experience or knowledge and that this will tell on
future progress.
Influx of cheap foreign goods to the local market

Intense competition among the ASEAN

Some social issues will arise e.g. effects of migration of workers

Lack of protection of SMEs

Some of ASEAN countries is not ready of AEC e.g. Cambodia

Poor governance and weak institutions in some ASEAN countries

DISADVANTAGE IN PRODUCTION
Even this community will allow and reduce the tax barrier to force the import and
export betweenthose nations in ASEAN, but the consumers need a high standard of
living, so they need a high quality of product too. ASEAN Free Trade Area is a large
market to export the product to sale in this community.Large market also has a
large competition. This competition might enforce to the producer progress and
doresearch in any time, to make sure they can compete with the regional market. If
some nation have a lowability and capacity of export, this country might face with
the high risk and become the market of other country. It mean that all product the
people need in those nation always import from other country to facethe demand
for their people.
3.2.2

DISADVANTAGE OF THE LABOR

Disadvantage of Labor referred to the situation that people in any nation face with
the risk while
they dont have enough ability to compete with other labor to earn and salary. In the
year of 2015, compete
mean to fight, and to win by the economics. So they need a high ability labor to
work for the investor. Sowhat happen if one nation without any human resources?
The answer is those nation is poorer and poorer,
because they cant find a good job to earn a high salary. Some people might work
under the employer, andwith full of high pressure. They wont have enough abil
ity to start their own business, because in the highstandard of production need to
reform and they will bankrupt in the first step of production and investment
LESS TECHNOLOGY
Wide open of the ASEAN Free Trade must affect to some nation which have a less of
technology.It can caused damage on the country development. Before the AFTA,
they can produce the handmade product, but after AFTA they will face the high price
of the produ

ct which cant competes with world andregional market. Handmade production cant
face with the demand of the consumer which increasing day
by day. So, technology is very important to support your production to compete
with ASEAN Market.Even it wide opened of economics, but it not means that your
country can get the technology the other country invented. One nation must have a
strong technology and Human resource to develop their technology and society
fter the arrival of the ASEAN Free Trade Area in the year 2015, Cambodia and other
Countrymust prepared and develop the Human, Technical Resources, through the
educated people and promotethem to have enough ability to compete with other
nation. If Cambodia has enough human, technicalResources, and other technology,
Cambodia might face with the growing in economics. AFTA bring theASEAN Nation a
wide open border in export and import, But one country with low productivity and
exportcapacity might become a market, which mean that those nation will strongly
depend on the regionaleconomics. One nation depends on the regional market is
always face with high risk, such as inflation,Unemployment, Less development, and
change through the regional trend and economics like a domino
PASSTRA UNIVERSITY OF CAMBODIA

The ASEAN economic integration by end 2015 wont change the economic landscape overnight. But
attracting FDIs is a zero-sum game: FDIs going to Vietnam or Malaysia or to any of the other nine
ASEAN countries are FDIs diverted away from the Philippines.
Theres bound to be keener competition among nations. Some countries lag behind because of their
poor public infrastructure, uncompetitive tax regimes, protectionist policies, and high costs of doing
business. They better fix these disadvantages or perish.
The single biggest disadvantage of the Philippines versus its ASEAN-5 counterparts is its poor state
of public infrastructure. Compared to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam theres no sense
comparing the Philippines with Singapore the Philippines has the second worst overall
infrastructure.
In terms of port infrastructure and air transport infrastructure, the Philippines has the worst public
infrastructure. This is tragic since the country is archipelagic, with more that 7,200 islands, making
efficient and reliable sea travel extremely necessary.
Costly and unreliable power supply is a major constraint to the development of manufacturing and
tourism sectors. But energy capacities cant be built overnight.
Traffic congestion imposes huge costs to the economy. A 2012 study by the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) estimates that the annual costs of traffic congestion in Metropolitan
Manila is approximately equal to 7% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Yet, improvements in urban transport remain bogged down. The much-vaunted public-private
partnership (PPP) program that includes many urban transport sub-projects has been a colossal
failure. There is a strong likelihood that none of the large-scale urban transport projects will be
completed by the end of the term of President Aquino III.
The Philippines has the highest marginal tax rates for both the corporate profits and personal
incomes. This has to be harmonized with its ASEAN-5 counterparts.
The restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution have to be amended.

The Philippines has a long way to go in improving its image as an investor-friendly country. While it
has moved up the ease-of-doing-business ladder, it remains the most bureaucratic among ASEAN-5
countries.

MANILA, Philippines - We are not ready.

This was the blunt assessment of business leader Manny V. Pangilinan on the Philippines readiness
for the ASEAN economic integration in 2015, warning that the Philippine government must now act
to prepare local industries, specially the agriculture sector, to compete in the new economic regime.
The PLDT chairman admitted he is worried that the Philippines has not grasped the wide-ranging
impact ASEAN Economic Integration will have on jobs and income.
The Philippines has committed to integration by 2015, which aims to create single market and
production base and to develop ASEAN as a highly competitive economic region.
An ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) briefing paper identified the following areas of cooperation:
human resources development and capacity building; recognition of professional qualifications;
closer consultation on macroeconomic and financial policies; trade financing measures; enhanced
infrastructure and communications connectivity; development of electronic transactions through eASEAN; integrating industries across the region to promote regional sourcing; and enhancing private
sector involvement for the building of the AEC.
In short, the AEC will transform ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods, services,
investment, skilled labor, and freer flow of capital, the AEC briefing paper added.
While the objectives are laudable, Pangilinan said the country should be aware of the impact on
jobs, income and food security.
Frankly we are not ready for this ASEAN Economic Integration, Pangilinan said in an interview
with TV5.
Using the Philippines sugar industry as an example, Pangilinan pointed out local producers will not
be able to survive the onslaught of cheaper priced imports. If tariffs go down by the end of 2015 as
mandated by the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement then we have the ability to import sugar that is
much cheaper from Thailand, Pangilinan said, warning so paano yun? It will kill the sugar industy.
Nonetheless, he said the government can still act: Will we allow the sugar industry to get slowly
killed by that kind of regime? and added, By making our sugar industry more efficient, we can be
competitive. Otherwise, well just be out of business.
Impact on labor, incomes

The bigger concern is the impact on jobs and individual income.

The practical realities are really very serious. I mean, you could be putting people out of work, right,
he said, thats where the rubber hits the road, isnt it?
He is skeptical as well on the claim that ASEAN Economic Integration will promote mobility of labor,
specially skilled labor and health workers, among member countries. He believes each country
would come out with regulations to protect their own workers.
Using Philippine doctors and nurses as an example, Pangilinan expressed concern that other
ASEAN countries would come up with policies favoring their own nationals first for skilled jobs.
Will there be, as a matter of regulation, a requirement to be accredited in the ASEAN countries?
There lies the possibility of lack of mobility, he said, adding that because one particular country, I
would imagine . . . will try to protect its own doctors and nurses.
A FILIPINO expert on labor and industrial relations is pessimistic about the readiness of the
Philippines for the so-called Asean integration next year, citing the vulnerability of the country to
unfair trade practices.
University of the Philippines professor Dr. Rene Ofreneo said the Philippines is not ready for the
establishment of an economic community between and among members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations in 2015.
Ofreneo said the Philippines is currently suffering from an imbalanced economy something that is
highly dependent on the remittances of the overseas Filipino workers and the Business Process
Outsourcing industry.
We have a different but unequal economy today, said Ofreneo at a forum in Davao City recently.
We need a rebalancing because this economy is not sustainable.
While he recognized how OFW remittances has buoyed the economy of the Philippines, the expert
on labor said this certainly does not offer long-term solution to the economic woes of the country.
I do not know how long we can be dependent on OFWs, Ofreneo said.
The best way to balance the countrys economy, he said, is to rebuild the damaged agriculture
sector.
And rebuilding the agricultural sector involves making sure that agricultural productivity is efficient.
Declining investments both public and private- on agriculture have led to declining productivity,
deficient value addition and poor job creation, he said during the forum.

Asean integration is aimed at improving and accelerating the economy of the regional bloc. It hopes
to establish an Asean single market and production base characterized by free flow of goods, free
flow of services, free flow of investment, freer flow of capital, and free flow of skilled labor.
The Asean economic community blueprint also underscored that the single market and production
base also include two important components, namely, the priority integration sectors, and food,
agriculture and forestry.
The Philippines, Ofreneo said, must realize that its damaged agriculture will never withstand the
pressure of the integration.
How can we be ready for regional integration when we do not even have the industrial policy in
support of agri-industrialization to calibrate trade policies and negotiations? Ofreneo said. | JMT,
NewsDesk