Preface

Summary

This book is a result of the ASEAN Roundtable 2011 on “Enhancing ASEAN's Connectivity” organized by the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), along with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) on 5 May 2011 at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore. The primary objective is to examine the current state of infrastructure development across ASEAN and to discuss how greater connectivity can contribute to the process of ASEAN economic integration. The ASC hopes that the roundtable would produce a set of policy recommendations that would help ASEAN to address the national-and regional-level challenges to build a robust infrastructure and to suggest approaches to resource mobilization for this purpose.

The roundtable focused on four areas: transportation for the movement of goods and people, telecommunications for business and people, information and communication technology (ICT) for businesses, education and other developments in the region, and energy infrastructure for better use and distribution of resources.

Road, rail, water and aviation corridors assume importance for the movement of goods and people. The development of transnational transport projects, such as the ASEAN Highway Network and the Singapore–Kunming Rail Link, is also key to realizing a seamless ASEAN. In the dynamic global telecommunications environment, ASEAN needs to promote telecommunications as a fundamental infrastructure in accomplishing its vision of an AEC. Given the importance of the Internet in business and other economic and social development, it is crucial to promote the utilization of ICT. The absence of such linkages will threaten to accentuate the already existing gaps between different countries both within ASEAN and around the world. Finally, integrated power grids and gas pipelines for ASEAN countries aim to improve energy efficiency and develop indigenous energy resources.