ASEAN integration efforts: (from left) ASEAN Business Club Indonesia co-chair Patrick Walujo, Secretary General of ASEAN H.E. Le Luong Minh, CIMB Group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, Bank Muamalat chairman and the advisor to Lifting-The-Barriers Initiative at the launch of the Lifting-The-Barriers Reports in Jakarta, Indonesia.
INDEPENDENT media and business circles have signalled skepticism, if not cynicism, that the Asean Economic Community (AEC) can be achieved by 2015 as scheduled.
This general pessimism is not without reason, but should not discourage continued efforts to expedite establishment of the Asean Community. If the prospects of abiding by that deadline do not seem so bright, that should be even more reason to redouble such efforts.
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