Markets Matter: The Potential of Intra-Regional Trade in ASEAN and Its Implications for Asian Regionalism

This paper attempts to shed new light on further deepening the economic integration process in Southeast Asia using a quantitative assessment of the potential for further developing intra-regional trade. It is evident that ASEAN's export space is expanding faster than the world average and that there is still room for ASEAN countries to further develop the role of their intra-regional trade. To improve its export potential, ASEAN should liberalize trade not only intra-regionally but also globally. It could be in ASEAN's interest to accelerate the pace of regional integration under frameworks that involve the participation of non-ASEAN countries, especially an ASEAN Framework for Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.