Chpt 6: Diplomacy: ASEAN: Greatest benefit of ASEAN or regional diplomacy

3b) Which of the following aspects of the work of ASEAN is the most important: (Page 181 to 185)

ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)

Educational and Professional exchange

Environmental collaboration

Explain your answer.

My own question:

The following are ways in which ASEAN conducts its regional relations:

Asean Regional Forum

ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)

Educational and Professional exchange

Which is the most important for Singapore? Explain your answer.

Hint: Your explanation for each factor must be about how Singapore benefits from each of these ASEAN methods of conducting regional relations.

Factors – What?	So What? Explanation
ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) - Intra-regional Free Trade Agreement: Products sold between ASEAN nations is free of import tax. -This makes products and raw material sold between ASEAN countries cheaper/ lower cost	So what? Hence à Cost of production of goods will be lower because raw material cost and cost of component parts imported from ASEAN nations is lower in cost since there is NO import tax à The goods exported from ASEAN will be cheaper since the cost of production is lower à Therefore demand for ASEAN produced goods will be higher in other countries à Hence ASEAN trade will increase with other nations à more jobs are created + salaries of ASEAN workers will rise since more profits are mae by ASEAN companies à Economic growth à ASEAN will prosper à Hence ASEAN is important. Furthermore à countries within ASEAN will be able to export their goods to one another without import tax à increase in demand for ASEAN produced goods amongst ASEAN countries à e.g. Singapore imports rice from Thailand à Thai rice is cheaper for Singapore consumers à hence Singapore consumers will enjoy cheaper high quality Thai rice while Thai farmers will be able export more rice to Singapore since demand will be higher à Hence both ASEAN consumers and producers will enjoy the benefits of AFTA.
Educational and Professional exchange -          More advanced ASEAN Nations train lesser advanced ASEAN nations to improve the educational qualifications and the capacity of their people such as talented young adults and government officials -          Example: SCP ( Singapore cooperation program) where Singapore offers training and scholarships to people from other ASEAN nations.	So what? - Goodwill is created within ASEAN since countries help one another à there will be a more harmonious region à stable and peaceful à ASEAN nations can trade, invest in each other’s countries and prosper together. -With Educational and Professional exchange between ASEAN countries, the less advanced ASEAN countries will improve the quality of their manpower à this means that the nations will be able to modernise their economy, companies and government agencies à Hence, the people in these less advanced nations will be able to enjoy economic growth à earn higher salaries as they can now attract foreign investment e.g. TNCs à More higher paying jobs created à economy of these ASEAN countries will improve à purchasing power will rise à buy more goods and services from ASEAN neighbours à whole of ASEAN will prosper à EP Ex is important for ASEAN.
Environmental collaboration ASEAN nations help one another to solve regional environment problems à by contributing different expertise e.g. in 1997 the Indonesian forest fires created a haze that blanketed the region àaffected air travel and tourism in the region à Singapore helped Indonesia by using it satellites to monitor the forest fires and alert the Indonesian to put out the fire more quickly à haze problem will lessened.	So what? Haze problem will lessened à Air travel and tourism will be less affected à ASEAN’s tourism sector continues to have business à jobs are intact à economy of ASEAN continues to do well.
ASEAN Regional Forum -          A platform for dialogue and discussion within ASEAN and between ASEAN and other Asia-pacific nations such as China, India, Korea and Australia and other powerful nations like USA.	So what? ARF = Regional mediation platform à will allow for ASEAN nations to discuss problems within Asia-pacific region peacefully à this lowers the possibility of armed conflict/war in the region à no conflict à stability à peace à have opportunity for trade and investment to grow à economic growth for the region.