Are you looking for information on the progress of ASEAN’s integrative efforts towards ‘One Vision, One Identity, One Community’ by 2015? Here are some key indicators featured in the 2012 ASEAN Community Progress Monitoring System (ACPMS) Report, launched today by the ASEAN Secretariat.
ASEAN GDP almost doubled since 2000
Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in ASEAN, taking into account differences in purchasing power parity, had virtually doubled from $ 2882 in 2000, to $ 5581 in 2011.
Growth is strong in both country groups – the ASEAN6 (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) and CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam). The CLMV countries posted robust growth, narrowing the gap with the ASEAN6. Comparing the ASEAN6 and their CLMV brothers, the growth of per capita GDP (in constant PPP$) was 3.4 in 2000, and only 2.6 in 2011.
Rapid growth of ASEAN trade in goods and services
ASEAN trade in goods among its Member States more than doubled from US$ 260.9 billion in 2004, to US$ 598.2 billion in 2011. For the same period, extra-ASEAN trade grew from US$ 428.1 billion to US$ 914.8 billion. The gap between ASEAN6 and CLMV countries has decreased. Intra-ASEAN trade share in ASEAN trade slightly increased from 24.3% to 25% during the same period.
Trade in services increased rapidly in Communications, Computer & Information services; Travel services; and Business services, royalties & licenses. Trade in Transport services has recovered from a substantial decline in 2008 brought by the global financial crisis. ASEAN’s deficit on trade in services contracted by 37% from around US$ 22 billion in 2005 to less than US$ 9 billion in 2011.
ASEAN has become a popular FDI destination
Inward flow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to ASEAN has recorded an increase of more than fourfold – from US$ 21.81 billion in 2000 to US$ 114.08 billion in 2011 – with Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia leading the Member States. Intra-ASEAN FDI inflow has increased from 3.9% to 23% during the same period.
Living conditions in the ASEAN has improved
The proportion of population living on less than $1.25 a day (in purchasing power parity terms) in ASEAN has declined between 2000 and 2010, from around 45% to 16% in CLMV countries and from about 29% to 15% in the ASEAN6.
The ASEAN region showed progress in terms of the United Nation’s broader Human Development Index (HDI), which rose from 0.635 in 2005 to 0.657 in 2010 as the CLMV countries almost leveled up to the ASEAN6, nearly closing the gap – down from 25% to 23%.
The ACPMS Report also carries cross-pillar indicators, which reflect favourable developments in the economic and socio-cultural areas indicating the convergence of markets and improved trends of poverty incidence and overall human development.
The full 2012 ACPMS Report and a brief summary presented in a four-page snapshot publication are available at the ASEAN website – www.asean.org.
The ACPMS Full Report 2012 is supported by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) through the ASEAN-Australia Development Cooperation Program Phase II (AADCP II).
The press release and brief summary of the Report was prepared in the framework of the project “Capacity Building for the ASEAN Secretariat”, jointly agreed and implemented by the ASEAN Secretariat and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and funded by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.