(VOVworld) – The ASEAN Community will be officially established on December 31, an important milestone in the Association’s 50-year history. The formation of the ASEAN Community will greatly benefit the region and each member. Vietnam has prepared for the new period which will surely present many opportunities and challenges.
The ASEAN Community will create a favorable environment for Vietnam’s development and defense. Vietnam will have more opportunities to access a wider market inside and outside ASEAN.
Opportunities and challenges
Vietnam’s opportunities once the ASEAN Community is established will include market, labor, and investment resources from other ASEAN members, and easier access to other markets like the US, the EU, and Japan. The ASEAN Community will help Vietnam stabilize its macro-economy. Vietnam's Permanent Representative to ASEAN Ambassador Vu Dang Dung says: “ASEAN has a mechanism to help its members protect their macro-economies against global shocks. We’ll have opportunities to restructure our economy. We have to adjust and improve our market economy mechanism to match international norms.”
Analysts say the economic benefits of the ASEAN Community are apparent. The Vietnamese government and functional agencies are already participating in the ASEAN integration, but not enterprises yet. Associate Professor, Doctor Trinh Thi Thu Huong, Deputy Head of the Economics and International Business Faculty of the Hanoi University of Foreign Trade, says: “Market opportunities are apparent. The ASEAN Community will be the 3rd biggest market in the world. Vietnamese businesses should strive to exploit neighboring markets.”
Former Deputy Foreign Minister Le Cong Phung says government policies and programs aside, enterprises should be active in the integration process, including learning more about opportunities and benefits. “We need to publicize better the economic advantages of the ASEAN Community. We should reform vocational training to take advantage of other economies.”
Ambassador Vu Dang Dung pointed to shortcomings Vietnam needs to improve, like the quality of its labor force. “I want to stress the importance of English competency. Why is it that Filipino workers can work in many countries and those countries could rather hire Filipinos than workers from other countries? Because they are fluent in English. If we want to compete with regional countries, our workers must improve their English.”
Turning thought into action
The ASEAN Community will create many development opportunities and challenges for its members. Understanding will be needed to grasp the opportunities and overcome the obstacles. Vietnam has created programs to improve the understanding of sectors, organizations, and the public and narrow Vietnam’s development gap with other countries to create a post-2015 vision to deepen ASEAN integration.