Southest Asia Economy

Guest: Pisan Manawapat, Ambassador of Thailand to the United States  Every day we hear news about China’s growth or, lately, its economic woes. In the US, we feel the effects of what happens on the other side of the world in China. Consider, then, the impact that China has on its neighbors in Southeast Asia. Ten of those smaller countries, including Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, participate in a cooperative called the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN formed in 1967 to foster greater economic and political cooperation between member nations and to help themselves compete better with world powers in the region and across the globe.  Together, these countries now make up the world’s seventh largest economy. And on December 31, 2015 ASEAN upped the economic ante by forming an alliance called the ASEAN Economic Community, or AEC, wherein the members of ASEAN agreed to work more seamlessly to reduce tariffs, open borders for workers and encourage investment in the region.