At the centre of the Asian region is ASEAN – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, formed in 1967. The association is made up of ten nations: Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. During ASEAN’s original inception, economic growth, social progress, cultural development and regional peace were cemented as the core principles by the founding nations and still stand strong today. ASEAN's GDP is set to exceed US$4tn by 20251, and currently exports a total US$1.3tn, with forecasts predicting exports to rise to US$2.8tn by 2025, making ASEAN the world's fastest-growing trade bloc2. In 2020, ASEAN received US$70 billion in new investments the largest FDI inflow of any emerging market region3. If treated as a single entity, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) would be the third largest economy in Asia and the fifth largest in the world after the US, China, Japan and Germany4.
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Combined, ASEAN forms one of the fastest growing economic powerhouses and is one of the world’s top five economies, behind the US, EU, China and Japan*.
ASEAN Today
*HKTDC Research ASEAN: Market Profile, 2021, ISEAS
1 PwC, The future of ASEAN: Time to act
2 ASEAN. Driving Your Ambition (Accenture ASEAN Consumer Research)
3 Invest in ASEAN with Mauve Group, 2021
4 Hong Kong Trade Development Council, 2021
Why is ASEAN an opportunity?
Now more than ever, companies from all over the world are looking to ASEAN to expand their operations from within the bloc around Asia and globally.
Fast economic and trade growth | Digital growth | A sustainable recovery |
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ASEAN as a trade bloc is one of the top 5 economies in the world, with its GDP set to exceed US$4tn by 20251. Current exports total US$1.3tn, with forecasts predicting exports to rise to US$2.8tn by 2025, making ASEAN the world's fastest-growing trade bloc2, and is in the centre of the world’s largest free trade agreements including CPTPP and RCEP. | ASEAN is the largest digitally enabled population in the world with its eCommerce forecasted to grow to US$88 billion by 2025. In 2020 alone, 40 million people in Southeast Asia came online for the first time3. | ASEAN is one of the most susceptible regions in the world to climate risk and people are taking note; 58% of ASEAN issuers say environmental and social issues are very important to their organisation, one of the highest percentages among issuers globally4. |
1 PwC, The future of ASEAN: Time to act
2 ASEAN. Driving Your Ambition (Accenture ASEAN Consumer Research)
3 HKTDC, ASEAN E-commerce: Beyond the Pandemic, 2021
4 Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, How Will ASEAN Members Cope with Their Climate Change Challenge? 2020
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Disclaimer
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
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