IF you were looking for a region that reflected much of the Earth’s diversity, the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) would be a good example.
Southeast Asia is a melting pot of religions, languages and ethnicities. The civilizations in the region go back 40,000 years. A large part of the region was colonized by the Europeans. Disputes and even wars between Southeast Asian nations have been common.
Southeast Asia is also home to over 600 million people—a population larger than that of the United States or the European Union (EU)—creating a dynamic economic system. The wealth disparity of the world is also found here: Singapore’s nominal per-capita gross domestic product is about $50,000; Myanmar’s, below $1,000.
The 10 economies in the region are also highly diverse, from subsistence farming in the poorest countries to Singapore being a global financial center. There is a wealth of natural resources in the region that are exported to the rest of the world. Some countries, like Thailand, export manufactured goods; others, like the Philippines, export services. Southeast Asia, as a whole, is a major tourist destination, and this is highlighted by the fact that, for the first time in 2013, Asean members received more foreign direct investments than China.
Last year total per-capita economic growth increased by 5 percent in the region, while total global growth was about 3 percent.
So what is the point of this glowing “news release” about the Asean?
Investors who have the ability to place money around the world are looking for two things: economic stability and a return on their investments.
The more advanced Asean members, including the Philippines, have proven since 2009 that their economies and economic systems are stable. While there has been some monetary stimulus in these countries, it has not been in amounts remotely close to what has occurred elsewhere. Furthermore, the Asean banking system is strong. The 1997 Asian financial crisis took out the weak banks and the stronger ones learned a lot from that.
The push for further Asean integration is going to be a success for the region, unlike the failures of the EU and the North American Free Trade Agreement, again because the regional bloc learned from the other blocs.
More economic unity in the Asean will cause some problems in individual nations, but these will be surmounted. Integration will also make the region more self-sufficient, and that is critically important, as the global economic crisis is not going away anytime soon and may even worsen.
The 21st century was supposed to be the “African Century”, after the success of Asia in the last part of the 20 century. The ongoing Ebola epidemic is just another indication that the only success found on Africa will be for nations like China pillaging the continent’s natural resources.
The next 20 years likely could belong to the Asean.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano